


Two Doors Down

by Bluefire510



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: AU, Bowling Date, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Group Hugs, Inspired by Music, Julie's mom is still alive, Luke's POV, Mild Language, Pining, Ride-or-Die friendship, Set in 2020, Slow Burn, The boys aren't dead, Underage Drinking, music talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 80,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26488138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluefire510/pseuds/Bluefire510
Summary: Inspired by the song, Two Doors Down by Mystery JetsThe boys meet Luke's new neighbor, Julie Molina, for the first time, and let's just say Sunset Curve's lead singer has fallen head over heels for her alreadyAU where it's 2020 and the boys are still 17 and haven't died and neither did Rose.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 805
Kudos: 1727





	1. Meeting Julie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunset Curve practice gets interrupted by the arrival of a new neighbor

Chapter 1

Luke strolled in the garage in high spirits. School was officially out so that meant Sunset Curve, all day every day, baby! Apparently, Reggie had helped the band out in getting some gigs. They had one lined up at the end of the week, so rehearsing was a must. 

He grabbed his guitar, raring to go, he let out a sigh when he saw Alex still fiddling with his high hats and Reggie still standing, not having picked up his bass. 

“What’s the hold up, Reginald?”

The bassist rolled his eyes at the use of his full name. He pointed to the open garage door, “It’s just… shouldn’t we wait for Bobby?” 

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, “Since, it’s technically his garage… and everything.” 

Luke shook his head, not letting the mention of Bobby ruin his good mood. That guy has been getting on Luke’s nerves lately. Been flaking out of rehearsal, arriving late to sound checks and not even bothering to help them when putting equipment away. 

“He said we can use the space anytime, guys. And we need to use it. We’ll just start already and wait for Sir Bobby to come and grace us with his presence,” 

Alex tested out his kick drum, scrunching his nose, “Where is he anyway?”

“Probably trying to score chicks at the mall or whatever crap he usually does,” 

Maybe that was what irked Luke about Bobby the most. Letting himself get distracted by all the girls that come to the show. Luke had a sneaking suspicion that Bobby was only in it for the fame and attention. Which is nice and all, but for Luke- it was the music. It had got to be about the music. He had nothing else. 

So that's why he couldn’t understand how Bobby could let girls come between him and the music. Luke never had that issue. Nah, he was focused on making sure Sunset Curve would be able play to the masses and make songs that really resonate with people. 

Reggie finally came around and picked up the bass, “So, _Now or Never_?” 

“Hell yeah!” chorused Alex and Luke. Reggie laughed.

Alex raised his sticks to count them off, “1, 2, 3-”

A loud noise started blaring out of nowhere that made the boys jump. Reggie hastily unplugged his bass and held it to his ear, “Not me.” he remarked, thinking it was some sort of amp problem. 

Luke did the same but the noise was still there, “What the hell?” 

He raised his head, trying to figure out where it was coming from. He walked out of the garage and realized it wasn’t just random noise, it was music. He could hear the beats thumping more clearly, and just hear them more in general. It was way louder out here. 

The guys followed him out. 

“Someone’s got the stereo on a little too loud,” Reggie commented, wincing at the volume. 

Alex cocked his head, trying to listen, “I’d be mad, if it wasn’t so good. Who is it anyway?”

Luke didn’t realize that he had been moving further away from the guys and closer to the source of the music. He closed his eyes, the melody sounding familiar, 

“ _Television_ ,”

“I think we already established it’s a stereo, Luke,” Alex swatted Reggie on the shoulder. 

“He meant the artist. You know? The band from the ‘70s?”

A grin broke out on Luke’s face upon recognizing the song, “That, right there boys, is definitely ‘Marquee Moon’!” 

Reggie made an ‘ah’ sound, now remembering the song, “But who would be playing ‘Marquee Moon’? Here? No offense, but besides Bobby’s place and yours, this street has terrible taste.” 

“I know,” Luke’s curiosity was getting the better of him. He bounded up the garden stairs, “We gotta check it out.” 

So much for practice. The boys followed him out of Bobby’s yard and went to find out who’s playing the music. 

They wandered across the street. It turned out they weren’t the only ones trying to figure out this little mystery. Luke caught eyes with his neighbors, the Hendersons, who were probably pissed off about the noise and were confused to see Luke walking around sans guitar. 

Usually the noise complaints made around here were about him and the band. Whoops. 

He threw them a smirk. Reggie mockingly saluted the married couple while Alex smiled apologetically. The blonde was always the nicest one in their group, maybe because out of all them, he was the most embarrassed by his friends’ antics. 

They walked a bit more and saw a house with a moving truck and a whole bunch of boxes out on the driveway. The band weaved their away around the movers and the furniture until they were at the front door. Luke rang the doorbell. They couldn’t hear if it rang or not, probably missed amidst the music booming from upstairs. 

A woman with voluminous curly hair opened the door. She gave the boys a warm smile which struck them. Not many people in this neighborhood gave them this much of a courteous greeting. 

“Why, hello,” 

Alex opened his mouth to speak, “Uh… uh hi. This is sort of a weird thing… but… well’ you see…” 

Luke stepped in, “Excuse my friend here, we were just some houses away when we heard, like the freakin’ amazing musical stylings of _Television_ coming from your house.” 

“Oh my goodness,” the woman looked embarrassed, “I’m sorry, we’ll turn it down-”

Luke shook his head, “No, no, no. Feel free to keep it on. Turn it up even!” 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it” Reggie smiled, “We were about to start our band practice when we heard it. Cool to know that there’s another house in the neighborhood that likes to rock.” 

The woman’s eyes widened, “You’re in a band?”

“Sunset Curve!” Alex spoke finally, after getting his nerves under control. 

Reggie winked at her, “Tell your friends.”

“I was actually driving by with my kids when we heard you guys practicing. You sound really good.” 

Luke could hear Reggie pull Alex aside, “ _Dude, she likes our music!_ ” he whispered excitedly. 

“Doesn’t count… she’s a mom,” 

“Anyways… so you just moved here? With your family?” Luke asked. 

“Yeah. My husband’s out right now with my son, Carlos. But my daughter’s home. We were having a bit of a jam session ourselves before she found my records,” she gestured to upstairs. 

“You...play?” Alex spluttered, incredulously. 

She shrugged, “Been in a few bands myself back in the day. Funny though, not the bed or chairs are even moved in, but we made sure that the piano and guitar were in the house first.”

 _Sounds like my kind of people,_ Luke thought. 

“It’s official, you’re the coolest neighbor ever,” Luke pointed over to his own house not too far from this one, “I’m like two houses away. I’m Luke, by the way.” He reached out to shake her hand. Reggie and Alex did the same. 

“I’m Rose,” she quirked an eyebrow, “You boys in high school?” 

“Yup. Officially on summer break right now,” 

“Perfect. Maybe you guys can show my daughter around. She’s around your age. Speaking of which-” she stepped back to call up the stairs, “Julie! Come down here, _mija_!” 

The boys heard stomping down the stairs before a girl appeared at the door by Rose. She had almost the same hair as Rose, but it tied up and she was donning glasses. She happened to be holding a record sleeve in her hands. 

“Mom?” 

“I got some boys here that I’d want you to meet,” 

The girl’s eyes widened while pulling the cardigan she was wearing closer to her, “Moooom, I’m still in my pajamas,” 

It was then Luke turned his attention downwards to find the girl wearing giant dinosaur feet slippers. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit, causing the girl to glare at him. He immediately shut up. 

“Sorry,” 

“Julie, this is Luke, Reggie, and Alex,” Rose introduced them to her. 

“Hi,” the girl waved slowly. 

The guys smiled back at her. Luke went to shake Julie’s hand, and couldn't help but get a closer look at the girl and he couldn’t help but admit that she was pretty cute, even if she had been a bit cross with him not too long ago. She pursed her lips, a bit shy. He eyed the record sleeve in her other hand. 

“Sweet, you like New Order?” 

He watched her cold exterior melt significantly. She smiled. 

“Yeah… I’m crazy about the ‘80s,” she admitted, “The Cars, Annie Lennox, Hall and Oates- stuff like that.”

“Killer,” Luke breathed out, “Got Fleetwood Mac on your set list?”

“‘Rhiannon’ is my go-to karaoke song, actually,” 

“Interesting. People tend to go for ‘Dreams’,” 

“I think it’s fun to sing the name,” Then Julie surprised Luke when all of the sudden she sang, “ _Rhiannon_. _”_

_Wow_. 

Reggie and Alex seemed to share the same sentiment. But they were able to voice their appreciation outloud. Luke was still struck silent. It was soft and it happened for like 2 seconds, as if she wanted to do it before she lost the nerve. But for a throwaway line, she hit it perfectly. 

“Damn, Julie!” 

“You’ve got pipes!” 

Luke managed to find his voice, “Uh… yeah. Wow.” Julie thanked them quietly while Rose wore a proud expression. 

_She should be._

“Hey Luke, you might wanna let go of her hand? We wanna meet Julie properly too,” Alex pointed out. 

The shaggy haired singer glanced down and saw that their hands were still entwined. He cleared his throat as he released her hand. This made way for Reggie and Alex to eagerly shake Julie’s hand. 

“You should totally come by during band practice sometime,” Reggie suggested. 

“Well,” Alex took in the moving truck and the mountain of boxes and furniture outside their house, “Whenever you’re all unpacked, obviously.” 

“Yeah, we’re over there. Across the street. That’s our other member, Bobby’s, place. We’re practically there all the time. But, um, I live close by. If you wanna stop by there too,” Luke offered up, which caused the guys to look at him in disbelief. 

They knew he never really invited people over, with all the stuff going on between him and his parents. But he wanted to be friendly. Julie and her family seemed pretty cool, the kind of people that he can vibe with and just go on and on about music. Definitely be a nice change, especially since his folks weren’t too crazy about him being in a band. 

He kinda wanted to learn more about Julie though. The girl had taste and the voice to back it up? He could tell from how well she could control her voice that she could have totally belted out ‘Rhiannon’ if she wanted to. 

He wouldn’t mind hearing the whole song actually.

Julie nodded, a bit flustered of all the attention. Luke cursed inwardly, she practically just moved in and here he and his friends are trying to get her to hang soon. 

“I’ll try to. Just gotta... you know… get settled.” 

“Right. Right,” Then, his phone went off. He checked and saw that Bobby finally showed up to the garage and was wondering where everyone went. 

“Uh,” he addressed both Julie and Rose, “we gotta head back.”

“Well, it was nice to see you guys," Rose brought her hands onto Julie's shoulders, "Feel free to come over anytime. I make a mean blueberry muffin.” 

“Sold!” Reggie exclaimed ready to take up on her offer soon. He ushered Luke and Alex to get going. 

Luke still lingered, looking at Julie, “I don’t know if ‘90s alt rock is your speed. But I hope you like our sound.” 

“Luke! Let’s go!” 

He said his goodbyes and hurried on down the driveway to catch up with Reggie and Alex.

Once they were out of an earshot of the house, Reggie let out a laugh, "Dude," he said to Luke, "What was that?"

"What was what?"

" _I hope you like our sound_? What happened to ' _Sunset Curve is the greatest band ever_ '?"

Luke grimaced, he had been known to be kinda cocky when it came to the band. He had been guilty of saying such things on a daily basis. 

"You were soft. Like real soft," Alex commented, "It's kinda nice to see your sensitive side." 

"I was just being nice. She's shy. Didn't want to scare her," 

"Oh, so shaking her hand for like 5 minutes and the prolonged eye contact didn't scare her?" 

"Shut up,"

"We're just messin' with you, man," Reggie slung his arm over Luke's shoulder, "Julie's nice. We like her too." 

_You better not_. Luke had to bite back his surprise by his sudden possessive thought, especially for a girl he just met.

He knew what Reggie meant, obviously. That they like her as a friend... Cool. 

Luke brushed it off, not wanting to talk about the whole thing anymore, "Don't we have practice? Can't leave Sir Bobby waiting, right?"

Luke ignored the looks Alex and Reggie were sharing before they all broke out into a sprint. By the time they came back and Bobby read them the riot act, Luke didn’t seem as keen to start practice as before. 

Even when he managed to pick up his guitar and started playing their song and singing about how they were ready to go and nothing would get in the way of their dream, his focus drifted to the girl with curly hair and glasses who now lived two doors down from him. 

Okay… now he could see where Bobby’s coming from. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's probably not likely that Luke lives on the same street as Bobby, but for the sole purpose of this fic, he does. And it would have been fun if he lived close to Julie too. 
> 
> I thought it would be cool to have Julie's mom in it too. Just because the whole premise of the series is that Julie seems to think that her mom has brought the boys into her life. So why wouldn't she be the one to introduce them to her.


	2. Writing Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Julie have a late night writing session

Chapter 2

1 year later…

Luke scaled down the garden trellis behind his house, careful not to be loud enough to wake his parents. He took a risky leap when he was only a foot off the ground, landing in a crouch, making sure to avoid being seen from inside- in case his dad got up to get a midnight snack. 

He had been doing this so often that he had gotten pretty good at it. The first time had not been as kind to him, and he had to make up some excuse to his folks on how he twisted his ankle (got caught up in his blankets and fell out of bed was that lame explanation). 

Shouldering his bag, he sprinted across the yard and out onto the street, constantly monitoring his surroundings and making sure he wasn’t seen. He did this until he reached his destination. Luckily, it wasn’t far. 

Luke ducked in between the two houses, opening the wooden gate that he knew was always left unlocked for him.

He leaned against a tree and checked the time. 

_She should be out_. 

Stooping down, he picked up a pebble and chucked it at the side window on the 2nd floor. He waited a couple minutes before volleying another one at the glass. It had been a bit big so the noise definitely caught someone’s attention. 

The window opened and a head full of brown curls popped out. 

_“Luke?”_

He breathed out a sigh of relief, then he spread his arms wide, “Fair maiden, may I climb your tree?” 

Julie buried her face in her hands, as if embarrassed by his cheesy behavior. But he could tell from the way her shoulders were shaking she was giggling. Just a bit. 

She raised her head and played along, “Go ahead… at your peril, sir. My knight in shiny… basketball shorts?” 

He grinned and he hopped onto the lowest branch and began his ascent to the princess up in her tower. Once he neared the window’s height, he swung over to the roof. He balanced himself as he walked along the gutter. Julie held her hand out and helped him crawl into her room. 

“Whew,” The Sunset Curve frontman blew out, needing to catch his breath. It was always the climb up that tired him out. He plopped onto the bed, “I’m so beat. Why don’t you come over to my place?” 

Julie scoffed, “I can climb down the tree, but not back up,” She closed the window and inspected the damage Luke’s rocks caused, “You really are stuck in the ‘90s aren’t you? You should have texted me.” 

“Why text you? You already know I’m coming over,” He rolled over, propping up his chin with one of her fluffy throw pillows, “If I did things your way, I’d be holding up a boombox on my head, Miss Molly Ringwald.” 

“Mixing up your reference there, buddy,” She walked over to ruffle his hair, goodnaturedly, “So, you ready to get to work then?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Luke pulled his journal out from his bag and Julie tossed a pen over his way. 

Luke had always been lucky to have Julie in his life. It had been just a summer ago that the girl moved into town, and slowly but surely they eventually became good friends. Great even. She was always a regular at the studio (he knew it was a garage, but ‘studio’ just felt right). 

Julie was always there to watch the band play there and even got to attend some of the gigs. He knew she couldn’t go to all of them since not all venues would be a place where sweet ol’ Julie Molina should be at. Her parents made sure of that. 

And to think, since Rose had been a part of the band life that she would have been more lenient for Julie to go to these places. But Luke figured it was because she _had been_ in the band life that she knew exactly what would go on in some of these venues. 

And like, the girl definitely knew her stuff. Apparently to top off that amazing voice he heard, Julie had some writing chops too. She had been writing songs with her mom and when he heard some of these arrangements, that was when he knew that Julie had to be a part of Sunset Curve in some way and not just some poor groupie that shows up to their rehearsals. 

As if he could ever think of Julie as some groupie fan that hangs around. 

He had approached the guys with the idea of having Julie join. At least as backing vocals and ease her way into the spotlight a bit more. Reggie and Alex were open to the idea, both having heard Julie sing on numerous occasions. There was one time when Bobby hadn’t been able to make practice so they had a fun improv jam session with Julie, just her rattling off her own renditions of their songs- and it blew him away. It just… worked. It was not exactly the Sunset Curve sound, but it was something else. Something special. 

Something he wanted to explore. 

But Bobby shut that down real quick. That goon. Saying some crap along the lines of keeping true to the sound that is Sunset Curve and that Julie was off brand. Luke never wanted to punch someone more in his life, but he couldn’t just deck him. Like Alex had said, their studio was Bobby’s garage. 

He’d have to just stay in his good graces for the time being, until he could figure out another place to rehearse. Then he, Reggie, and Alex could finally kick him out of the band. It had been a long time coming, Julie knew how much Luke would gripe on about how much Bobby drove him crazy. 

But Julie, thank goodness, didn’t get too upset. Apparently, she’s working on some duo act with her best friend Flynn which was fine with Luke. But damn, what a missed opportunity to be making some cool music with Julie. 

He was just gonna have to settle for writing music with her then, which is pretty fulfilling by itself, not gonna lie. Although he was always welcomed at the Molina household, sometimes school got in the way so they ended up pushing their writing sessions for later and this was the only good time for both of them.

They could have definitely done this online, but it was better in person. The energy was palpable and it was easy to get caught up in each other’s creative bursts, but they were always able to help each other when they got stuck. 

Speaking of which, Luke frowned as he mumbled the words on the page. It didn’t flow right, “Jules?”

She spun around in her desk chair, “Have you tried taking out a word?” 

“You haven’t even looked at it yet,” 

“I don’t have to. You’re so… verbose,” 

“At least, I’m not Alex, alright? He thinks we’re writing an essay whenever it’s his turn to write a song,” 

“Fine. Let’s see what we have so far. She took out her journal and swapped it for his. Her eyebrows scrunched together, “ _‘Home is Where My Horse Is_?’” 

Luke groaned, “Reggie!” He snatched the leaflet sticking out of his journal, “He learned how to play the banjo and he thinks he’s Willie freakin’ Nelson or something.” 

“No, keep it! Just picture it: Sunset Curve, Country Edition,” 

“Ha ha, I’d rather staple my eyes shut,” 

With that, Luke pored over the lyrics Julie wrote. As per usual, they rocked. He particularly liked: _if somebody hurts you then I’m gonna get hurt too._ He made sure to let her know. He went over across the room to pick up her guitar; her mom had gotten it for her birthday and Luke had been teaching her the basics. 

“Don’t play it too good. Then my parents will definitely know I’m not playing it,” she said without taking her eyes off Luke’s journal. 

“Nah. They’ll just think I’m that good of a teacher,” He referenced the chords she had written. Of course, they were all chords on the piano. He had to transpose it, writing down the guitar chords next to the piano ones on the page. He needed to remember to tune the guitar back to how it was. 

He strummed a bit, trying to take in account of the words and what would be a good strumming pattern. He ended up with one that was kinda groovin’, but it didn’t match up exactly with the chorus she had on there, so he thought maybe to repeat the first few words. 

_My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you_

Julie was bobbing her head as he sang, “Okay, now that could work. But I’m stuck with how to keep it going.” 

Luke shrugged, “Well when in doubt, some good ‘yeah’s and ‘ohs’ never hurt.”

“Ok, I’ll think about it,” She scooted her chair over to where he was at showing him what she thought about his song,

“ _Something big… something crazy,”_ she sang her revised version of the line. 

Luke returned the guitar, nodding, singing it back to her, “Yeah, that was bugging me. Kept writing ‘grand’ or ‘amazing’.” 

“It’s always good to hope for something crazy. Then, life wouldn’t be so boring, right?”

“As if life could ever be boring with you, Jules,” He placed his hand on top of hers. 

Julie tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling, “Thanks. And thanks for making the move here so good for me. Making new friends is not something that comes easy.” 

“I know, that’s why your mom had to do it,” he joked, which earned a punch in the shoulder. 

“Shut up,” Then her phone rang and she pulled her hand away, “Oh, it’s Flynn. Sorry I gotta take this.” 

“Taking a call while you have a guest? How rude,” 

She threw a pillow at him while she answered the call. Normally, Luke would butt out and try to mind his own business whenever she calls Flynn. Girl time is sacred, he would say. But it was mostly because one time, he walked in on both of them crying in Julie’s room and it freaked him out so much that he slammed the door and ran out of the house.

Logistically, he should have been there to make sure Julie was alright, that both of them were alright- but Luke Patterson was out for the count when it came to two girls crying. Didn’t mean he was a wuss or anything… just not something he was comfortable in dealing with yet...

But then he heard giggling and thanked whoever ran the universe that it was going to be a pleasant conversation. 

He was wrong, however. He wiggled a little too closely to Julie while she took the call and overheard Flynn squealing excitedly about something,

“Girl, check Insta right now!” 

“What? What is it?” Julie wondered.

“Oh, you’ll see,” 

Julie held the phone out in front of her face and quickly checked Instagram, Luke pretended he wasn’t looking but he saw that Flynn sent her a link to someone’s account. 

Once Julie read the name she jumped to her feet, “No way!” 

“What, ‘no way’?” Luke was real curious now, he tried to take another glance at Julie’s phone but she was too busy jumping for joy. 

“Oh, Luke’s here by the way,” she seemed to say offhandedly, like his presence here was an afterthought. Luke slumped a little at that. 

“Hey Luuuuke,” Flynn’s voice echoed through the phone. 

“Hey, uh, Flynn,” he tried to match the girl’s enthusiasm but he was getting annoyed that he wasn’t in the loop of whatever was making Julie happy. 

“ _They broke up?_ ” Julie practically screeched. 

“Yes, girl! He’s available now!”

Luke’s stomach plummeted. Hearing Flynn refer to a ‘he’ and witnessing how ecstatic Julie was to finding out this person was single- he put two to two together. 

_Who exactly was this guy?_

He and Julie hang out pretty much all the time, he would have known. Julie would tell him if she was crushing on a guy, right? Right? 

He waited until the excitement died down a bit and eventually Julie hung up the call when Luke finally asked:

“So… what were you guys talking about?” 

“Oh, it was girl stuff,” she waved off, getting her journal back from him and preparing to write some more. 

“O-kay,” he uttered slowly before he snatched her phone out of her hand and hurried to the other end of the bed.

“Luke!” she whisper-screamed at him, reaching for her phone but he kept blocking her with her own pillows, “Dude, not cool! Boundaries!” 

In the time it took to get away from Julie, he was able to unlock her phone (password was Carlos’ birthday), and saw whose profile she had been looking at. 

“This guy?” Luke wanted to laugh because no way that Julie was crushing on the freaking captain of the football team. What a cliche,

“You into preppies, Jules?” he couldn’t help but tease because he honestly couldn’t believe it. 

“Give it back,” she was able to grab her phone and put it on her desk, but Luke wasn’t done yet. 

“I mean I get it. He looks so sharp in his letterman and his hair- to die for, right?” Then, Luke gasped, “He was dating that Carrie girl, wasn’t he? The one who hates you for like no reason!” He did note that his profile had been absent of photos of his usual photos of him and Carrie.

“Yeah but-”

“-why would you wanna date a guy who lets Carrie say all that crap about you?”

“Nick is a nice guy. And he has never agreed with anything Carries does,” 

“But then why was he with her then-?”

“Look, Luke, I don’t know. I just don’t know. You’re oddly invested in this subject when we can just be writing songs, like we’re supposed to.” she stared at him with those big brown eyes, pleading for him to change the subject.

Luke could feel himself getting a bit unhinged. He didn’t know that he could be so up in arms about Julie dating Nick. She could date anyone. It was her choice. Of course. And they had this good thing going, he wasn’t going to ruin it by being a total jerk when she was obviously so hopeful. 

He sat down, running his hand through his hair, “I’m sorry, Jules.”

“It’s ok,” 

It was silent for a couple minutes. Then, wordlessly, Julie gave Luke her journal back, seeing as though she still had his. They could look over each other’s lyrics one more time before calling it a night. 

Maybe Luke could try to amend his behavior by making sure Julie has some solid songs. He was cruising through ‘Flying Solo’ one more time when he heard Julie call his name. He lifted his head, “Yeah?”

“This is the sweetest thing,” 

“What?” He got up towards her and his eyes widened. Julie had flipped to another page in his journal, to one that she wasn’t meant to see, “Um… you were supposed to look at the dog-eared pages.” 

He made a move to take it from her but Julie was ready. He should have known that she would get payback for the phone thing. She quickly dodged him and ran around the room, reciting the page:

“ _Step into my world/ Bittersweet love story about a girl/ Shook me to the core. Voice like an angel, I've never heard before-_ Wow, never knew you were such a romantic, Luke!” 

He had been chasing her around the room but had no choice but to pick her up and drop her onto her bed. He took his journal back and stuffed it in his bag. 

“Woah, okay,” Julie said, “So we can talk about the guy I like but not the girl you like?” 

Luke can tell his face was flushed at the moment. He never wanted her to find out about that song. Ever. And after hearing about Nick the football guy, it was especially not a good time,

“Don’t wanna talk about it, Julie,” 

She set a hand on his shoulder, “But she must be special because I haven’t seen you write like that, like ever.”

Luke couldn’t bring himself to look at her, worried about revealing the truth- as if the song hadn’t already done that, 

“She is,” he admitted, still not making eye contact.

“It was so emotional and raw. I could tell from these first few lines,” Julie touched his face so he had no choice but to gaze back into those brown eyes, “You should keep writing it, and show her. She’ll love it for sure.” 

“Yeah,” Luke said, lamely. 

She really couldn’t see it. That it was about her. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or hurt by that. 

“I, uh, gotta go. It’s getting late," He shrugged her hand off and he picked up his bag from her bed, “And I don’t wanna get you in trouble.”

“Oh, ok,” Julie sounded disappointed. He was too. If the night had ended any other way, then maybe they could have just sat here in her room blissfully writing songs together for a little longer. But he just wasn’t in the mood right now to write.

He opened the window and hopped onto the windowsill. Swinging his legs over, he mustered up his normal smile. He didn’t want Julie to think he was mad at her. It worked, she gave one in return but she showed hints of concern on the corners of her eyes. 

“Night, Luke,” 

“Night, Julie. Sweet dreams,” 

Then he walked on the roof, climbed down the tree, and hustled on home. 

He may have kicked a tree in frustration on the way back and he may have ended up limping- but that would end up being another shoddy story to tell his parents in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, but I gotta hit y'all with a jealous Luke and an oblivious Julie. 
> 
> I also liked the idea of seeing Julie perform with Flynn for something. I guess 'I Got the Music' counts but would love a duet.


	3. Sound Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke tries to figure out his Julie problem when said girl throws him a curve ball hours before a gig.

Chapter 3

“That turd eater!” Reggie shouted once Luke told the guys about what happened last night. They were all in the studio, without Bobby of course because when was he ever here?

“I know right!” Luke replied, exasperated, “I mean, I mean- like what does she see him in the first place?” 

“I don’t know. He’s got a nice smile. Boyish charm… looks like a guy you can take home to meet your parents,” Alex pontificated before getting glares from the other two,

“I mean, psh- but not as good looking as you, Lukey.” And with a nervous chuckle, he went to go hide behind his drums.

“I don’t have boyish charm? You can’t take me home to meet your parents?”

“I mean, I could take you home to meet my folks- but you know…” 

“Right,” 

Luke knew that Alex’s folks were still not too into the idea of their son being gay. It sucked that they felt that way and there were times where he could see it get to Alex. It took a while before he could even mention anything about a guy that he was interested in, afraid that the band would make fun of him or something. Even though they kept telling him that they were cool with it. 

Reggie apparently was off to make a crude drawing of Nick from a piece of scrap paper. He taped it to their dartboard and gave Luke a round of darts. 

“Bombs away!” 

Luke wasted no time firing darts at pretty boy. One came close to his eyes. The other near his crotch. The third just hit the wall. He ended up tossing the rest of the darts on the floor. 

He appreciated Reggie’s attempt for him to get all this residual frustration out, but it was weird raining sharp hell on some guy whose only offense was being the subject of Julie’s affections. Plus, doing this was just gonna get Julie more pissed at him than fall in love with him. 

“And that’s not even the worst of it,” Luke collapsed onto the chair, “She saw the song.” 

“You mean… _that_ song?” Reggie blew a raspberry, “Well, you’re screwed! What did she think?”

“She liked it,” 

“Nice,” 

“Told me that the girl I wrote about would like it too,”

“Ohhh,”

“But ‘voice of an angel’?” Alex recalled the lyric, “Like who else could that be? It’s so obvious!”

“But what are we gonna do?” Reggie addressed the room. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Julie’s our friend. But you’re our friend too. I want to be happy for Julie. But it’s making you feel terrible. But I want you to be happ-” 

Luke had to cut in, “Just don’t say anything to Julie, okay guys?” He just wanted to get on with practice. They have a sweet gig tonight and they needed to work out the kinks in their new song.

“Don’t say _what_ to me?” Luke sprang up at the sight of Julie walking into the garage, arms crossed. 

The boys all clammed up, trying to figure out the right words to say. Alex cleared his throat and Luke almost went over to his drums to shut him up, but the drummer actually came up with a good enough story, 

“Just talking about the setlist. Changing it up a bit. Surprise?”

“Yes. Yes!” The guitarist winked at Alex before stalking over to Julie, “We’re gonna perform something new. Thought it would be a fun surprise for tonight when you come to the show. Don’t wanna spoil it.”

“Aww okay. So I can’t see you rehearse?”

Luke loved it whenever she could come by. Reggie and Alex did too. She was always super encouraging and had great ideas for their set, but Luke had to keep up the lie. Well, they did have the new song but they didn't mind Julie coming today to hear it before the concert.

“Yeah… just really wanna blow you away,” Reggie piped up from his spot in the corner of the room. Luke spun around to mouth ‘thank you’ at the bassist but remembered that Nick was still on their dartboard. He pointed at it discreetly but his friend was still smiling at Julie. 

Alex noticed this too and motioned for Julie to come and check out the van they have parked outside for their gig tonight. Once the two were out of sight, Luke rushed forward, hit Reggie in the arm and tore the drawing off the wall and chucked it in the trash. 

“She could have seen it, bro!” 

Reggie raised his hands, shrugging, “Slipped my mind!”

They heard Alex coming back with Julie, “And so we were thinking about painting the van like blue and gold… add a TV… maybe a bed like one of those tiny houses.” 

“But then where are you gonna put your equipment?” Julie asked. 

“Ahh. I knew we forgot something!” 

Julie eyed the three of them warily, putting a finger to her chin, “You boys are acting weirder than usual.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Luke put his arm around Julie and guided her back out of the garage, “So, you should be getting the email soon. With the info and everything for the backstage passes for tonight.” 

“Thanks…” She bit her lip, “Hey listen, I also came by to ask you something. A favor. I know it’s so last minute and everything-”

“It’s alright, Jules. Anything you need, you know that,” he shot her an assuring look but it didn’t do so much to quell her nervousness. 

“I was wondering... if I could have another backstage pass?” 

Luke raised an eyebrow “I thought I already gave one to Flynn. She’s coming with you right?”

“Right,” Julie looked down, “I also wanted to invite... someone else to come to the show tonight too…” 

_Oh no_

He had a feeling who this surprise guest would be. 

“Nick?”

“Yeah...”

Luke had to steel himself to give one of the best performances of his life. He stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, nonchalantly, “Cool, cool. Didn’t know that he was into that kind of music.” 

“Well, yeah. And also, he just seemed to be so bummed about the whole thing with Carrie. We were just talking about it this morning and I thought it would cheer him up and take him somewhere where he’s definitely not gonna run into her,” 

_They were talking? Like on the phone or something?_

“That’s so... nice of you, Jules. Yeah, I’ll just…” he cleared his throat, “call up the venue and tell them to spare another pass, I guess.” 

Julie’s face broke out into a smile and pulled him in for a hug, “Thank you so much, Luke!” 

“Anytime, Jules.” 

She skipped off back to her place. Apparently, Flynn was gonna be over to help her get ready for tonight. Once she was gone, he whirled around and marched over to the guys in the garage, heaving. 

“Turd eater’s coming to the show. Isn’t he?” Reggie surmised.

“Well… let’s give him a good time then. Like we do at every show,” Luke practically ran to his guitar. 

If he hadn’t had much of an incentive to make sure this was the best show Sunset Curve has ever put on, now he did. He needed to get his head in the game if Preppy Boy Nick was gonna be there chilling with Julie, dancing with her to the music- to _their_ music!

It would be a cold day in hell before he messed up on stage in front of Nick. 

“C’mon let’s get to work!”

* * *

They had rehearsed for as long as they could in the studio before packing it all up and heading to the venue. Bobby hadn’t shown up yet but they figured he would make it eventually. He always seemed to have this perfect timing, no matter how late he was- he was there when he was needed the most.

But that hadn’t been the case tonight. 

“Food poisoning?” Alex cried out, “Really? Tonight of all nights? And all because of a bad hot dog?”

Reggie had just relayed the news he got from Bobby’s mom, “Sometimes one hot dog is all it takes...” 

Luke had been pacing back and forth on the stage. They needed to run soundcheck soon and they had to let the crew know what the deal was.

This was not good. Not good at all. They never had someone miss a show before. Even Alex managed to still rock right after getting his tonsils removed (although he had abstained from singing that night). 

“Can we do it without him?” Alex seemed to be freaking most of all. He did not handle change very well. And they had to come up with something on the fly or else the crew would get pissed, “I mean how can we do ‘Now or Never’ without him?”

“We can’t. We need to change the set list,” Luke thought aloud, “That song is off the table.” 

“Okay, then we’re short 5 minutes on our set,” 

“We each can just go completely manic on ‘Finally Free’ then. Can do some solos, hype up the crowd before we close,” 

“Drum solo that I haven’t practiced for?” Panic splayed out on Alex’s face and had to go sit down. 

“We’ll… we’ll be fine guys,” 

The back door opened and in came Julie which surprised all three of them. She never came early to their shows, especially not to their soundchecks. She had Flynn in tow, and they both already dressed up, despite the show not being for another few hours. 

Julie was donning her mom’s old tasselled vest with the dahlia pin and had her hair up for the occasion. She looked incredible. 

“Julie!” The boys chorused, they all gave her a hug.

Reggie brought in Flynn for a fun handshake they both came up with, “Flynnigan!”

“Reginald!” Flynn’s braids bounced as she launched herself at Alex, “Hey, Blondie- wait!” she did a mental head count, “Where’s Bobby?”

Whatever good mood the girls have ushered in was gone quick and they filled them in on the situation. 

“What are you guys gonna do now?” Julie was checking on Luke. She was concerned. 

“We play without him, I guess. But that new song we were gonna do, might not work to be honest,” Luke jogged over to retrieve his journal and brought it back for Julie to check out. 

“This sounds really good,” she squinted to see the chorus more clearly, “Would sound even better if you and Reggie sing harmony at this part.” 

“I can’t hit those notes, Jules,” Reggie reminded. 

Luke ran his hand down his face, giving it a few rousing smacks, trying to find the fix. But it seemed Flynn was way ahead of him.

“Julie can,” 

Said girl immediately protested, “Wha? No, no, no.” 

_Now Flynn was onto something._

Luke jumped off the platform, motioning to the crew to give them five more minutes while they deliberated. 

Alex grabbed Julie by the shoulders, “Please, Julie! You can save the show.”

“But-”

“You sing better than Bobby- we can try some of the stuff we were playing with months ago,” Reggie suggested. 

“I’ve never performed in front of an audience like this before!” Julie turned to Flynn for help, but she was all on the band’s side on this one. 

“The boys need you. Since when has Sunset Curve ever put on a mediocre show?” 

“But Nick, I’m supposed to be hanging out with him tonight,” 

“Look, I’ll make sure he doesn’t get eaten up out here,” Flynn volunteered, “And besides, you get to show off your skills. He’d be so into it.” she wiggled her eyebrows at her bestie which made her laugh 

It was Luke’s turn to come in with his case,

“Look, it’s just the one song. We’ll run soundcheck together right now so you don’t get tripped up tonight. The song’s pretty simple. And we-” he gestured to Reggie and Alex, “we got you, Jules.”

Julie was still hesitant, darting her eyes between him, the guys, and Flynn.

“You have a killer voice. You were never meant to just do karaoke or sing for just your friends and family. You’re a star, Julie. You’re supposed to perform. Once you hear that audience going crazy for you, you’re not gonna ever wanna leave, I promise you. Sharing the music- that’s when you know it’s complete. You’ll feel complete,” 

Julie breathed deeply, eyes shut, “Luke…” 

Completely disregarding his surroundings, he grabbed her hand and rested his forehead against hers. 

“I believe in you, Julie. You can do it. But only if you want to...” he whispered. 

They stood like that for a minute, just breathing. Soon, whatever was plaguing Julie was gone, her friends’ words having finally settled in. She raised her head and exhaled, her lips quirking into an uneasy smile.

“I guess… if it’s just one song…” 

“Yes!” He gathered her up in his arms and swung her around while the rest of them cheered. 

One of the tech had to step onto the scene and reminded them they were on crunchtime. So the band, along with Julie, had to proceed with soundcheck. Luke had to whisk Julie away from Flynn but he promised her that they would see each other before the show started. 

“We’re gonna borrow her for a night, we swear!” Reggie called out to Flynn. 

“But if it works out too well… you could put the future of Double Trouble in jeopardy! Just sayin’!”

Luke positioned Julie right in the front- center stage. Right where she was supposed to be. 

He handed her his journal with the new song, “We’re gonna run it slow this time so you could get your bearings. The song is called ‘Bright’. Perfect for your range.”

The frontman picked up his instrument and waited for the others to do the same 

After tuning it and strumming his guitar, he checked in on Julie, who was singing the lyrics softly under her breath and tapping her foot. And, she may not even be aware of this, she started to sway to the beat. Luke could pick out the beginnings of a performing stance in the way she was vibing to the song. 

“You ready?” 

She nodded, nearing the mic stand, “Ready.” 

He took it all in, his best buddies and the girl of his dreams- all on stage with him, all primed to deliver what may be one of craziest shows in Sunset Curve history. 

_I could get used to this._


	4. Sunset Curve feat. Julie Molina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie performs with Sunset Curve for the very first time

Chapter 4

“Sunset Curve, you’re on in 10 minutes!” 

Alex thanked the crew member before she left the dressing room.

It was more of a dingy lounge area behind the stage. The slashed up grandma couches were left to be desired, but they expected nothing less from the venue- it had never been the Ritz Carlton but it was one of Luke’s favorite places to play. 

He had changed into his stage attire, which was pretty much a less sweat soaked version of the muscle tee he was wearing earlier. Reggie was still rocking his leather jacket- bold choice since it was May and the AC is practically nonexistent here. Luke could see Alex in a bit of a crisis near the mirror, deciding which cap to wear. 

Julie was the most dolled up out of all of them. Luke had never seen Julie go as far as wearing makeup with hints of glitter when showing up to their gigs. He figured it was all for her special guest anyway. 

They were both seated on the couch. she was rubbing a few of the tassels on her vest between her fingers as she ruminated on something. 

“You nervous?”

She met his gaze, pursing her lips, “A bit. Yeah.” 

“How come?” he prodded, gently. 

Julie sighed, “It’s just… you’re regulars here and everyone’s gonna be expecting Bobby. Gonna be expecting  _ the _ Sunset Curve. Just worried that-”

“You won’t be good enough?” the frontman scoffed, “As if, Julie. You’re a natural born performer.”

“I don’t want to be the reason you guys don’t land a record deal,” 

“Wouldn’t that be funny though? That the one night we don’t play with Bobby and we play with you instead would be when we finally get a record deal,” 

“Poor Bobby though,” Julie amusement tugging on her lips, “Probably would regret eating that hot dog now.”

“Yeah,” Luke cocked his head to the side, “So… uh, you comfortable with the song?”

“I’m all good. Haven’t come across it during our writing sessions though,” She leaned in, “Was it another one of your non-dog-eared pages?” she kept a low tone so it was just between them. Oh, if only Julie knew that Luke had already told the guys about the song that must not be mentioned again, the same guys who had offered time and time again to back him when or if he would ever perform it for Julie.

“Nah It was a song we wrote a long time ago. Just never got around to performing it yet. Kinda the first time we’ll perform something that’s more of an anthem, you know? Something that could be for everybody. In case you haven’t noticed,” He pointed to the revised setlist posted on the wall, “a lot of our songs are about how we’re the life of the party and are just… raring to go.” 

“Well.. it does change things a bit, like how Alex said earlier today,” Julie’s hand blanketed his, “It’s really uplifting and I’m kinda honored that you guys want me to perform it with you.”

Luke’s hand topped Julie’s in this stack of hands they started making. He let his thumbs graze the back of her hand, his index finger tapping against her grandmother’s ring. 

“The honor is all ours, Jules,” 

A set of footsteps can be heard clacking against the old floorboards, Julie’s focus pulled away and she was on her feet. Luke craned his head to see Flynn arriving backstage… with Nick. 

“Nick. Oh my god, hi!” 

Luke blinked, momentarily thrown off by how high Julie’s voice had gotten at the sight of Pretty Boy. 

The band were on their feet immediately, Reggie throwing concerned glances at Luke. 

Flynn was the only who noticed the strange energy in the room but didn’t address it. She was too busy making a beeline for Alex and choosing the blue cap for him to wear.

Julie slowly approached Nick and went in for a handshake at the same time as Nick trying to initiate a hug. They fumbled a bit, laughed awkwardly before they embraced. 

Julie pulled away, “Did you get my message? I’m so sorry that we had to cancel frozen yogurt but-”

Nick held his hand up, “It’s all good, Molina. Totally understand. Flynn filled me in. I can’t believe you’re performing!” he said with much excitement. 

“I know. It’s just one song, but I hope you enjoy it. The whole show really. Oh!” 

Luke clenched his jaw tight when Julie took Nick by the hand and led him over to the band. 

“Nick, this is Luke, Reggie, and Alex, a.k.a Sunset Curve,” 

It was oddly tense, no one in the band making a move to greet Nick yet. Luke noted that Reggie had remained silent, completely forgoing the ‘tell your friends’ schtick. Maybe it was because they were all well aware of the kind of friends Nick has and those guys wouldn’t be caught dead in a place as sleazy as this, much less listen to their stuff. 

But Nick, completely oblivious, held his hand out for Luke to shake. He took it, begrudgingly, making sure to look happy while doing it. For Julie’s sake. 

“You’re the one who plays guitar, right?” 

“Uh… yeah,” 

“That’s awesome! Me too!” He flipped his hair, some strands having obscured his bright blue eyes, “Probably not as good though. I have a Squier at home,”

“They make good guitars though,” Luke found himself saying

“And for the price too,” 

“Yeah. You don’t have to break the bank to get a Fender to sound like a rockstar,” 

“That’s what I’ve been telling people!” 

That… was unexpected. 

Luke could tell from just looking at him that he was… genuinely happy to be here. He was waiting for the backhanded comment, for him to reveal his pompous nature but... nothing.

Nick went down the line, striking up polite conversation with the guys, his enthusiasm never wavering. He complimented Alex on the blue hat and acknowledged having seen him dance at school once and thought he was great . He even spoke briefly with Reggie about how the bass was totally underrated which got the bassist all flustered and bashful. 

Then, came the couple minutes warning. They had to go on stage soon. 

They ran up onto the stairs leading up to the curtain. Luke instructed Julie to stay backstage until it was time for ‘Bright’, so she, Nick, and Flynn stuck around in the lounge, waiting for the show to start. This gave the band the opportunity to talk. 

“It’s worse than I thought,” 

“I know right!” 

“He’s so nice!” 

Luke watched Julie laughing at something Nick had said, touching his arm and he felt that twinge of jealousy washing over him. 

This would have been much easier to deal with if the guy was a skeeze. 

“Give it up for Sunset Curve!” the voice rang out throughout the building. 

“That’s our cue!” Reggie rushed onto the stage to a roar of applause. 

Alex straggled for a second, turning to Luke, “Are you gonna be okay?”

He shrugged, “Of course!” he lied. The blonde rolled his eyes, gave him a pat on the back, and proceeded to go on. 

Luke followed, but not before sparing one last look at Julie who gave him a big thumbs up. It was what he needed to make those next few steps to join his friends on stage. 

* * *

The first half of the show had been mind blowing.

The place was packed like they had never seen before and the reception was infectious. It definitely turned Luke’s whole mood around, feeding off the energy from the crowd and giving it right back to them as he belted out song after song. 

He bounced onto Alex’s platform, cranking out power chords like it was nobody’s business while Reggie stomped, throwing his hair back, thumping on the bass in an electrifying dance. Although stationary the whole time, Alex gave it his all in every beat and hit to his drums. Nobody could deny that the blonde was breathing life into every song.

Every now and then, he would catch Julie from the corner of his eye. She was tucked between stage left and the curtains but he was sure she was smiling the whole time. 

They ended their latest song with a bang. The crowd cheered and it gave them a reprieve to wipe some sweat off their brow and take a swig of water before continuing the last leg of their set.

“Is everyone having a good time tonight?” Luke said into the mic, rekindling the cheers and screams in the audience. 

“Alright, alright. Settle down. Now…” he made eye contact with Julie. She was clutching onto her mic in anticipation, “We got a special friend coming out here tonight to help us out with a new song. We’ve been trying to get her join us on stage for a while now. So… give a warm welcome to our girl, Julie Molina!” 

The crowd applauded, with Flynn and Nick clapping the loudest, as Julie came out on stage and swapped places with Luke in the center. 

“Uh… hey everybody,” she started. Her eyes met Luke’s and she loosened up a bit. She cleared her throat, “This song was written by the guys some time ago It’s called ‘Bright’. Hope you like it.” 

Luke eased her into the song with his guitar, a softer, slower pace than what he had been doing all night and soon her angelic voice echoed through the room. 

_ Sometimes I think I'm falling down _ _   
_ _ I wanna cry, I'm callin' out _ _   
_ _ For one more try to feel alive _ _   
_ _ And when I feel lost and alone _ _   
_ _ I know that I can make it home _ _   
_ _ Fight through the dark _ _   
_ _ And find the spark _

The guitar got faster as Julie closed her eyes, punctuating the buildup. Luke monitored the crowd, they were getting drawn in, many of them swaying to the song already

_ Life is a risk but I will take it _ _   
_ _ Close my eyes and jump _ _   
_ _ Together I think that we can make it _ _   
_ _ Come on, let's run _

Once the drum hit, it kickstarted the rest of the band, a whole new energy jumped out and Julie was there to direct it to where it needed to go. 

_ And rise through the night, you and I _ _   
_ _ We will fight to shine together _ _   
_ _ Bright forever  _

She laughed mid singing, the joy she experienced when hearing everyone playing their part, audience included. She began roaming around the stage, letting the music move her. Her hand to her chest, she hit that higher register that neither Luke or Reggie would dare try. She went to Reggie, rocking to the beat together.

_ And rise through the night, you and I _ _   
_ _ We will fight to shine together _ _   
_ _ Bright forever _

Luke stepped up to the mic, never taking his eyes off the force that was Julie Molina. She never looked lost on stage, not even when it was his turn to sing. 

_ And times that I doubted myself _ _   
_ _ I felt likе I needed some help _ _   
_ _ Stuck in my hеad with nothing left _ _   
_ _ I feel something around me now _ _   
_ _ So unclear, lifting me out _ _   
_ _ I found the ground I'm marching on _

Julie climbed onto Alex’s platform, pumping up the crowd for Luke’s part. Reggie rushed to Luke’s side, sharing the mic and they sang out together:

_ Life is a risk but we will take it _ _   
_ _ Close my eyes and jump _ _   
_ _ Together I think that we can make it _ _   
_ __ Come on, let's run

The chorus returned but this time it was Julie and Luke’s voices mingling together. The crowd was eating it up, the way her highs and his lows blended so perfectly. 

_ Bright forever  _

Then Julie surprised him, pointing her mic at him, knowing full well that he had a perfectly working one right in front of him. He edged forward, his face inches from hers, singing the bridge one more time while she mouthed it along with him. Was it possible to be smiling even wider at each other? 

At her part she whirled around, back facing towards him. The band was milking that buildup for what it's worth, the audience knew that powerhouse of a chorus was coming soon and they were clamoring for it now- begging for it now. 

He and Julie were moving as one, rocking back and forth. Then, still connected, they jumped on the chorus. 

Julie was waving her arm as she sang and the audience followed and whatever telepathic connection she and Luke just had, she shared it with the crowd. They were together, singing together, he had never seen anything like this. 

This was the first time he felt, like truly felt, their music was reaching people. 

Then Julie, like the wrecking ball that she was, closed the song with flair, nailing that high note and everyone went nuts. Alex kept playing on, his drum fills fueling the pandemonium. 

Reggie howled, gripping his bass in one hand and running to hug Julie. And once Alex was done, even he left his post to bask in the grand applause which was something he rarely did. 

Luke stumbled slightly, still reeling from that performance but still managed to join the others in the center. Julie was clutching her forehead, out of breath. She was so deliriously happy, she jumped into Luke’’s arms, bumping into his guitar in the process. 

Hearing the crowd so amped up, him still having yet to come down from his performance high, he held Julie tight, not wanting to waste this moment for a second. This was like a dream come true, or just living several dreams all at once. That was how surreal everything was. 

But he did eventually pull away, so she could hug Reggie and Alex. They faced the crowd afterwards, grasping each other's hands and bowed. Then it was time to send Julie off. 

“Let’s give it up one more time for Julie!” Reggie hyped up. The applause, now thunderous, was all for Julie. She looked out into the audience, nearly tearing up. They loved her. They really did. 

And Luke, as if it were possible, was falling for Julie even more now. 

She bid a farewell to the people then disappeared backstage. She was immediately engulfed in a hug, courtesy of Flynn, then followed by Nick. 

The sight of that, on any other occasion, would have left Luke’s stomach feeling like a vacuum. But in fact, after what just happened on stage, he was sure now more than ever that no matter what comes next, if Julie ever chooses to be with Nick- what he and Julie had was something that no one could come close to stopping. 

Like…. What they did on stage- they made each other better, playing off of each other’s strengths- it was magic.

He had to take a breather. Normally he wouldn’t be so winded after just one song during a performance but he was nearly drained. He and the guys were still in the center, waiting for the clapping to die down before finishing their set. 

Alex, still waving at the audience, leaned over to whisper at Luke, 

_ “How the hell do we top that?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope you enjoy this one. 
> 
> I know that 'Bright' was meant to have piano but I wanted to change it up. Finished writing this at 5 am.


	5. The Drive Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group heads to Julie's after the gig, on the way, Luke has a revelation

Chapter 5

“We’re Sunset Curve. Goodnight!” The three of them screeched into the mic as they concluded their show. 

The band had managed to get through the rest of the night without Julie. If Luke would have it his way, Julie would stay on stage and finish the set with them. But she had rehearsed with them the one song, so it wouldn’t be fair to her to rope her into doing more. Even if it was what the audience demanded too. 

They bowed. Luke rushed forward to touch a few fans’ hands in the crowd before leaving the stage. He barrelled into the rest of the boys, still pumped about the show they just put on. Alex scooped up Reggie into a fireman’s carry, hooting and hollering around the lounge. 

Luke was getting high-fives from the crew who congratulated them. These people, who had witnessed the growth of the band since when they first played here, were telling him that it had been their best show yet. 

“Don’t tell Bobby,” he wisecracked. 

He weaved through the crew, and even a few girls who had somehow got backstage. He greeted them and signed their books and some old band posters but his focus was on one girl in particular. 

“If you’d excuse me, ladies. Thanks for coming out,” he heard a couple protests and felt lingering touches on his forearms but he didn’t feel too bad. He called Reggie over and he was all too eager to socialize in his place. 

He bounced over to the lounge where Julie, Nick, and Flynn had been chilling since the show ended.

“Can I just say,” Flynn stood up and got into Luke’s face, “you pretty much killed! I should be mad because, ya know, Double Trouble and everything. But I have to admit- Julie belonged on stage with you guys, right?”

“Totally agree!,” Nick chimed in, smiling, “But dude, the finger picking in the chorus of ‘Bright’ was legendary.”

Okay, Nick better stop with the compliments or else Luke would end up as flushed as Reggie. 

“I could… uh teach it to you sometime?” 

“Come by the studio anytime, man,” Alex clapped Nick on the shoulder, good naturedly, “We’ll show you how to rock.” 

“Aww. Thanks,” 

Julie seemed pretty pleased and almost relieved that the guys were taking to Nick so well. Luke felt guilty. He should have trusted Julie’s judgement better. Of course she wouldn’t be interested in bully; she was gonna be drawn to someone who would be just as caring as she is.

Reggie finally emerged from the throngs of fans that had gathered in the back, “So... what’s next?”

Nick was puzzled, “There’s more?”

Julie filled him in, “Oh, usually we head back to the studio and chill after the show, have some snacks and talk.”

“But I don’t think that’s a good idea with Bobby being sick and all. Wouldn’t want to flaunt our success in his green face,” Alex mimicked a puking noise. 

“We can head back to mine,” Julie offered, “I already talked to my parents, they seemed okay with it. Just as long as we don’t wake up Carlos.”

The guys were stoked at the idea. They loved coming over to Julie’s. They all had their fair share of family problems with Luke and his mom constantly arguing, Reggie’s parents doing the same, and Alex’s parents just not understanding him- but being at the Molinas was a breath of fresh air. 

Julie’s dad, Ray- well, he didn’t seem to have it in him to raise his voice at anyone, even when Julie and Carlos mess up and test his patience. And Carlos did test the poor man’s patience. A lot. 

And Rose, she probably was the band’s biggest fan, always asking about what they were up to, where they were playing. She would often have music recommendations and have tunes overtaking the house every time they came over. 

Rose’s support meant so much to all of them. Having a parent believe so much in their dreams, it was sad to say that they never really had that up until now. 

They were always welcomed. There had been one too many times when Luke or one of the other boys show up unannounced, sporting a tear-stained face, asking to be let in and chill for a while. 

“You in?”

NIck’s yawn answered for him. He checked his watch, “I wish, but it’s getting late. I have a thing with my parents in the morning too.” 

“Aww okay,” Both Julie and Nick stood up, bringing him in for a hug, “I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks for coming tonight.”

“Thanks for inviting me, Molina. You were amazing up there,” He went through another round of handshakes, congratulating the guys again for the great show before Flynn saw him out. 

When she returned, they all set to work in packing up the equipment, not bothering to wait for the crew because they usually had this grace period, making sure the venue was cleared before they started disassembling their set up. They all wanted to make it to Julie’s ASAP. 

It went by much faster with 5 sets of hands and the van was pretty much packed within the next hour. The band had to wrap up a few things with the guy who owned the venue, even interacted with a few fans who still stayed behind, but soon they were ready to head out. 

Reggie tossed the keys to Luke, “You mind taking it?”

“The van? Yeah, no problem,” 

“Cool cuz me and Alex are going with Flynn in her car. Byeeeee,” he ran off before Luke could ask. 

Julie popped up by his side, sharing his confusion, “That girl just got her license. Why are they riding with her?”

His attention was on the retreating figures of his bandmates, Alex had the audacity to wink at the two of them. 

_I’m gonna kill them_

“You wanna ride back with me then? In this cramped van? I do have to warn you that you will be sharing your seat with a snare drum,” he rounded the front of the van, unlocking it. 

“Why not? Wouldn’t want to leave you all alone,” She opened the passenger seat, lifted the snare and sat down, “But I have radio privileges.”

He clicked his tongue, turning the ignition on, “My van, my radio.” 

“It’s Reggie’s van, so we should just play a bunch of country music or that station that he likes that we had to tell him was a Christian Rock station,” 

“Anything but that, I swear to God-”

“More like sing to God-” she punched in the buttons and soon Christian Contemporary filled the van. She even knew the song playing, something that her Tia probably would listen to, so she sang along but purposely bad. 

Luke was wildly looking around, they were still in the parking lot, “Jules, you better turn that off before someone hears you-”

“What? I can’t hear you. It’s getting stuffy in here,” she even went as far as to roll down the window as Flynn was driving past, still singing. Luke could hear the jeers coming from inside the car accompanied by Flynn’s honking. 

“Okay. Fine!” Luke backed up the van, “Play whatever you want. Please, before the crew comes out and hears this.” 

Julie clapped, satisfied. She switched the station to something more mainstream, which Luke would have normally had a problem with, but it was a huge step up from Christian Contemporary that he had no qualms about it. 

He laughed, driving on down the road. Julie always knew how to get under his skin and she often did so with a smile or a tongue sticking out at him. And he didn't seem to mind one bit.

“So…” Luke began, sneaking glances at his passenger, “How was it?”

“How was what?”

“You know,” He wanted to hear about what she thought about their performance. They hadn't been able to talk about it, with him finishing the show and everyone trying to help pack up the equipment. He wanted to see if she felt it too. That connection.

He heard her let out a shuddering breath, “I felt alive.” 

His face lit up, really empathizing with her. He knew just what she meant, “And?” There was more, there had to be. 

She adjusted the drum on her lap before turning to face him, “It’s silly but like, it was the most human thing I could ever do. The most human I can ever be,”

“I know right! Letting all the emotions flowing through you, connecting with people- that was what we were meant to do. As human beings on this earth,” 

“For so long,” Julie bit her lip, “I thought performing was mostly giving. You’re up there, baring your soul to a whole bunch of strangers in hopes that they’ll be entertained. But no, it was something else entirely,”

“It’s a mutual exchange,” 

Luke did have such jaded thoughts about performing from time to time, when people weren’t really digging the music as much. And it was hard to stick with what he loved, the sound he and his friends were making, when everyone wanted something more contemporary. Less instruments and more electronic dance bops. Why bother to ‘bare your soul’ to people who don’t get it?

“I can see it sometimes, the looks on people’s faces when the music gets super personal to them,” he recalled his past experiences being up on stage and being in the crowd at other people's shows. 

“It’s tough for them out there too, when every other place tells you to shut down and keep your emotions in check. You need to establish a trust with your audience, so they can feel like they can let it all out,” 

They were nearing Julie’s house. Flynn, Reggie, and Alex had already beat them to it, probably waiting inside for them. He parked the van on the street but the two of them remained in the van. 

Luke scooted closer to Julie in his seat, “You… saw those people out there. When you were singing, you grabbed their attention and they saw you. And you saw them. And with your voice, and with the song, you told them they were not alone. And for a second, it felt like we weren't.” 

“They didn’t feel much like strangers after that,” Julie agreed. Then she was staring at him intently. After a pause, she asked him,“How do you do that? Just go around and make inspirational speeches and just be so passionate about everything?”

He shrugged. He thought he was just plain cheesy at times, according to the others. But he couldn't help it, that was who he was. 

“Don't ever stop. I like hearing you go on and about what you're passionate about," 

Luke brightened at that, "Really?"

"Yeah. You always have the knack for making things sound so beautiful. Poetic. And when you like something, you just go out and say it. No mind games or hesitation, you just do it. I've always admired that,"

"I mean why waste your time being indifferent, right?”

It was at his own words when it hit Luke.

He had been spending a year pining after Julie, a year bottling up those feelings for the sake of their friendship. He would often picture what it would have been like if he had said something sooner. In his daydreams, it would be fun dates, duets, and maybe even a kiss... or two. He could not tell anyone how many times he had envisioned that last one. 

He had been totally set on bottling up his feelings for longer. But they were 17 now, pretty soon senior year was gonna start for both of them, then they would graduate, then Julie would be off to some college while Luke, most likely, would be working to get the band out there. They’d grow apart and she would have definitely moved onto some other chapter in her life, with someone else. 

There may never be a better opportunity to tell her. For a minute there, Nick wasn’t an issue- he just had to tell her. She needed to know how he felt about her before he lost the nerve forever.

“Hey, uh, Julie?”

“Yeah, Luke?”

“Um…” he licked his lips, all of the sudden his hands were clammy against the steering wheel, “I, uh, need to tell you something.”

Julie said nothing, waiting expectantly in her seat, but Luke couldn’t get the words out, choking on his own anxiety to say anything coherent. 

“Well… you know… of course, you probably do… know that we-” he winced. He was so used to covering up his feelings by dragging the guys into it, saying stuff like ‘we are glad that you’re here’ or ‘we love you, Jules’,

“-Know that _I_ ,” he corrected, “care about you, right?”

“I do already know that, silly," 

“But what I’m trying to say is…” he made the mistake of getting lost in her eyes and her expression was so warm and so was her hand that had somehow made it on his arm. His thoughts were getting jumbled in his head, he couldn’t think clearly, his body panicked.

He jumped in his seat, startling both himself and Julie and he jerked his hands back and accidentally punched the steering wheel, activating the horn. 

“Holy crap!” he cursed and Julie was covering her ears. 

“Luke! Carlos is sleeping!” she reminded him. 

“I know, I know. I’m so so sorry Jules,” 

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting so weird for the past few days,” 

Then Julie’s front door opened and their friends poured out, along with Rose, wanting to see what was going on out there.

Luke banged his head against the wheel, groaning. He had single-handedly ruined the moment. He couldn’t possibly tell her now, not with everyone else here. 

“Luke-?”

“I’m fine, Julie. Just… “ he couldn’t bear to look at her or their friends right now, “Just need a minute to myself. You can go on ahead.” 

“But-”

“Please?”

Her hands had been hovering over his back, ready to comfort him but his tone stopped her short. She retracted her hands and she was averting her gaze too. 

Luke sighed, he didn’t want to make things weird between him and Julie. That was why he hadn’t tried confessing his feelings earlier. But it turned out even attempting to confess was still enough to create this awkwardness in the air. 

He didn’t even stop her when she unbuckled her seatbelt and left the van without another word. He waited until Julie was finished assuring her mom and their friends that everything was fine and them going inside the house for him to bang against the wheel in a self-loathing frenzy. 

“Stupid. You’re so stupid!” he berated himself.

It must have been the gig. He’d often lose his inhibitions after playing a show and feeling like a rockstar- that was how Alex and Reggie rope him into doing silly antics after their concerts. His judgement lapsed and now he made a mess out of things. If only he had waited, if only he had just left the van with Julie and went inside... 

He debated whether or not to just pack it in. Just leave the van, walk home and not face them. But that was gonna draw more attention. Besides, he would almost never come home after a gig, sparing himself from having to deal with his parents’ derisive words and harsh judgments. 

Luke took a bit to collect himself. He took the key out of the ignition and pocketed it. He exited the van and started going up the steps to Julie’s door. 

And he thought feigning enthusiasm for Nick coming to the show was the best acting performance of his life. He knocked on the door, plastered a smile on his face. 

He was ready to pretend again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so weird to write about them driving when they usually would poof everywhere. 
> 
> Can't believe I'm cranking out so many chapters back to back. I'm just really inspired the show and I'm eagerly awaiting a season 2 announcement, because it needs to happen.


	6. Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Julie both try something new

Chapter 6

It had been a weird few weeks. 

So many things had happened since the night Julie had filled in for Bobby at a Sunset Curve concert. 

For starters, the band had been receiving such a widespread positive reception since that night. Little did Luke know, someone had filmed their performance with Julie and it had been going viral around the local LA music circuit. Messages kept flooding their inboxes on various social media accounts, inquiring about potential bookings. 

It had all been very exciting for everyone but Bobby, who was disgruntled for missing out on the very concert that made the group a hit. He had been trying to rally the band together to capitalize on this success but it was pretty clear from all the attention they were getting, Julie’s collaboration with the guys was what sold. 

Too bad Bobby still refused to believe that and still refused to still let Julie in the band even after all the press. 

Even worse for him- that was when Luke and the guys finally decided to kick him out of the band. 

He had it coming and it was for valid reasons beyond him just missing the gig. But it didn’t stop the guy from kicking _them_ out of the studio space. 

The next day, Sunset Curve had officially asked Julie to join the band. 

Julie had been in a state of shock with all of this, she had told them. Going viral and now getting more followers and questions on when and where she and the guys were gonna perform next- it was new to her and pretty daunting. Luke could only imagine. 

But he knew from their conversation in the van, hearing how amazing she felt when performing on stage- it wouldn’t take too much convincing for her to be a part of the group. 

And after getting the ok from Flynn, who had been sad at not being able to make Double Trouble a reality but was more proud of her bestie’s success, Julie was in. 

The band had packed up the van with their gear and said goodbye to Bobby forever, but not before chucking rotten food they found in said van at his garage. 

Now, since Julie was in the band, they would practice at her place. Her house had a cool studio space her mom had been setting up for a while now since they had moved and now it was open for everybody to use. 

They would be rehearsing with Julie nearly every day and playing shows at night. Not having Bobby in the group had made way for some experimenting with their sound and how Julie could elevate it. And having it at the Molinas’ couldn’t be better for the guys- Ray would make tasty snacks for them and having Carlos around to mess with during their breaks was pretty fun. 

Luke still couldn’t believe how everything worked out for the band.

He wished he could say the same for him and Julie. 

Their relationship never really recovered from that night. The night when Luke nearly confessed his feelings for Julie, blew it, and made her feel weird to be around him. 

He could get where she was coming from. In the group of friends they had, him and Julie were insanely close. Although Flynn was Julie’s bestie, he and Julie would see each other constantly. It was much due to being neighbors and it would be easier to visit each other than visiting Alex or Flynn who lived across town. 

They had used to talk constantly, if not in person then on their phones. Sometimes he would receive panicked calls in the middle of the night from Julie because she was prone to getting terrible nightmares. He would stay on the call with her as long as he needed to until they both eventually sleep beside their phones. It was that common that they would go to each other if something was wrong. 

So for him to not tell her what was going on with him put Julie in a strange position. They had been on this wavelength, their relationship was predictable- he threw off the groove and now she didn’t know how to interact with him anymore. 

The band dynamic didn’t suffer because of this, thank goodness. But in between rehearsals, she would still talk to him but their playful banter was missing. She rarely gave her casual friendly touches that Luke had a weakness for and was more focused on getting their music together. They hadn’t been seeing each other one-on-one, really only hanging out with each other at group functions or concerts. 

And there was another thing- Nick. 

The guy had taken up the offer to stop by the studio for band rehearsals and ended up being a regular visitor. And Luke… didn’t mind. Neither did Reggie or Alex. In fact, they liked his company. And the guy was actually pretty decent on guitar, as he had demonstrated nervously for the group when playing a riff from that one Kendrick Lamar song. 

Although they had to tell him that it was actually a sample from an Isley Brothers’ song. He was a pretty decent guy to talk to and Luke is slowly coming to the conclusion that they were… friends now? 

Although he bore no hate for Nick, it still irked him whenever Julie gravitated to the blonde whenever they had practice. Whatever security he had in his relationship with Julie came and went the night of the concert. Their chemistry on stage and rehearsals nowadays didn’t compare to that first time. 

In fact, during rehearsals, whenever Nick would show up, Julie would dance about the room, always lingering a little too long beside him. Anytime she had the mic, her sight was always set on Nick and no one else. It made Luke wanna glide by with his guitar, cutting her off from looking at the guy. 

But no, he did what he had been getting good at doing for the past year now- pretending. Pretending that he was not head over heels for Julie Molina. 

They were in the middle of a rehearsal now and it was one of those rare times when Nick wasn’t present. The band had just finished playing their new song, ‘Finally Free’ that Julie had penned a while ago. 

“Yes!” Reggie shouted, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” 

High-fives went all around, celebrating another successful run through. There had been a few hiccups in the last few times. Sometimes Julie would strain to hit the higher notes, especially when grooving to the song and Alex had to work through a drum malfunction issue the first time they played. So it was very rewarding to have nailed it right before they were set to end. 

“Good thing too. I was starting to think I wouldn’t make the movies tonight,” Alex said, relieved while putting his sticks away. 

“Oh yeah. With _Willie,_ ” Julie wiggled her eyebrows at the blonde. The very mention of the name even got Reggie and Luke going ‘oooooh’. 

Alex rolled his eyes, “Could you guys not?”

Luke couldn’t help but tease Alex. It was payback for how the drummer made fun of him for falling for Julie so quickly after meeting her. But joking aside, Luke was happy for him. It had seemed that Alex and Willie really hit it off upon meeting each other last week.

Reggie held his hands up, feigning innocence, “How could I not? You got a hot date from a meeting backstage, at our concert! You’re literally living my dream, man.”

Alex rubbed his neck, “He is kinda hot, isn’t he?”

The ‘ooohing’ came back at full force to which Alex groaned and immediately exited Julie’s garage/studio, “See you tomorrow, guys. Oh, and I hate you all!” 

“No you don’t!” Julie yelled back at him. 

Reggie clapped his hands and ambled on towards the house, “Well, I’m out. Ray’s gonna teach me how to bake a tres leches cake for Carlos’ baseball’s team tomorrow. Later!” 

Luke never really got Reggie’s relationship with Julie’s dad. But then again, Luke had met Reggie’s own father a couple times and Ray was a total step up. 

Or maybe Reggie just really liked tres leches cake. 

Now it was only him and Julie in the studio. It was quiet, both of them preoccupied. Luke was wrapping up the wires for the amp while Julie was engrossed by her phone. He could tell by the way her eyebrows were knitted together and how her lips were in a slight pout something was on her mind. 

“Everything good, Jules?” 

Her head snapped up, “Oh, hey. Sorry just…” her phone beeped, “trying to work something out right now…” she sighed, typing away on her screen. She pocketed her phone, facing him, “I had plans tonight with Nick but they just fell through.” 

Luke didn’t know that she was supposed to see Nick tonight, “Plans?”

“Yeah. We were supposed to go bowling at the new shopping plaza tonight,” 

“I’ve heard about that place. Isn’t it, like, super packed and hard to get a lane?”

“Yeah, you’re supposed to call ahead and reserve a spot. But Nick had just told me that his little brother broke his arm and he’s gotta be home tonight.” 

Luke winced, “Well yikes for his brother.” 

“I know,” Julie agreed, “But I was really looking forward to going. It would be weeks before I could have the opportunity to check it out.” 

She did seem pretty bummed right now. If Nick didn’t have a very legit reason for skipping out on Julie then he and Luke would have words. 

“You could still go though, right?” 

“Bowling by myself? Doesn’t sound like too much fun,” grumbled the girl. 

“Well…” Luke shrugged, “I’m not doing anything tonight.” 

“Really? You’d go with me?” 

“Why not?” Luke slipped on his hoodie, pulling out the van keys from the pocket, “Reggie forgot his keys after he had me fix his lousy parking. So…?”

“Thanks, Luke,” she pointed to the house, “But we should let Reggie know we’re taking the van.” 

“Nah, we’ll be back soon enough. Right after I beat you in bowling,” he taunted, hoping that it would ignite their old back-and-forths. 

It worked. Julie scoffed, putting her hands to her hips, “Oh really? I doubt that. Have you seen your stubby fingers. They might get stuck in the ball.” 

“Hey,” he wiggled his digits, “I have the utmost dexterity. I’ll be able to handle it with ease. Meanwhile, you’ll probably be having trouble keeping the ball in your hands, butterfingers.” 

“Are you still on about that? That was one time-”

“You dropped the baton 5 times. 5 times! During the entire track unit for PE,” 

“Shut up. It was hot that day, my hands were sweaty,” 

“Still. Our team had to run laps because of you,” 

“Maybe you should be better at passing the baton,” 

“You’re ridiculous,”

The two shared a laugh as they headed for the van parked outside her house. He definitely missed this. It was reminiscent of how they used to talk. He hoped that the rest of the night would go as well. It would be nice to take Julie out to do something non-band related. It had definitely been a while. 

* * *

“Dammit!” Julie cried in frustration as she hit her third gutterball in a row. 

Luke propped his feet up on the bowling ball rack, stifling his laugh and not succeeding. It was just as he predicted. Julie would line up her shot but before she was ready to release- BANG. It would bounce off the lane before rolling into the gutters. 

The curly haired girl stormed back to their booth then scanned the screen for the scores. 

“You know you gotta knock down the pins first, right? Then you can keep track,” he teased.

“You’re funny. So funny,” she took her seat next to Luke, “You’re not doing so hot either.” 

“Hitting 4 pins in one turn is better than hitting none...In any turn,” 

He stood up, ready for his shot but he couldn’t bring himself to keep going when Julie was sitting there all glum. She was the one who really wanted to come here and she was getting smoked every time. 

He took her by the hand and had her stand near the ball rack. 

“Alright, I’m finally gonna have mercy on you. You see this thing here-” he nodded at the small grate above the ball rack, similar to a vent in the interior of a car. His hand floated over it, “There’s a reason why it blows air.” 

Julie swatted him in the shoulder, “That’s what that’s for? This whole time!” 

Luke burst in a heavy fit of laughter at Julie’s expression, “I saw people doing it just now. I swear!” 

Although low-key pissed at him, Julie dried her hands using the vent before trying to return to her seat. 

“Nah, Julie. You’re gonna bowl this one. Let’s just focus on you getting better,” Although Luke was no expert in bowling, he had been able to pick up what he had been observing in the adjacent lanes and hopefully he could help her. 

Julie bowled for the first time without sweaty palms and did fairly well. Then he thought to give it a try himself, mimicking the other bowlers' technique. He lined the ball up slightly right from the center and with as much force as he could muster, he ran up and chucked it down the lane. 

All the pins were knocked down in an instant.

STRIKE, the screen said while an animation of a pin getting carried into an ambulance zoomed through. 

“How?” Julie threw her arms up, “You really just picked that up?” 

Luke motioned her over and placed a lighter ball in her hands, “You’re gonna have to be able to really launch this thing. You could barely hold the other ones.” 

They walked to the edge of the lane. He moved her by the shoulders until she was right where he was standing when he landed the strike. His hand trailed down her arm until it was hovering hers, the one holding the bowling ball. He had to lean in over her shoulder to share what he had observed. 

“I think what worked for me,” he whispered, “since I’m throwing with my right arm, then I’m most likely gonna throw it more to the left. Just how it moves,” His breath must have tickled her ear because he could feel her shiver slightly against him.

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. And we’ll just walk up together and I’ll help you,” From his position behind her, he had to place his hand on her hip to steady them both as they approached the lane fast, he guided her arm but mostly let her throw the ball on her own. 

They watched the ball roll down the lane at fast speed, it flew towards the center of the pins, knocking down 8 pins, leaving the two on the edges upright. 

“Oh my god!” Julie rejoiced, hopping up and down, “I did it!” 

“You annihilated those pins!” Luke was so proud. All that power was Julie’s, even if he had helped her line up her shot.

In her excitement, she had spun around and leapt up at Luke to embrace him. 

Apparently, she had leapt a little too high and a little too fast that she had somehow wrapped her legs around his waist as she hooked her arms around his neck. Luke scrambled to support her legs before he could drop her. He spun her around, hooting in victory, "Ju-lie! Ju-lie!"

The thrill of the win was all well and good until Julie pulled away and rested her forehead against his that Luke realized the kind of position they were in. Their faces were dangerously close to each other’s. He swore he could count her eyelashes from this angle... if he could maintain this position long enough.

He was starting to become more aware of the feeling of Julie’s thighs around his waist and her hot breath tickling his face. They had always been touchy with each other as friends but never to this extent. 

They looked like that scene from the freakin’ Notebook, for goodness’ sake.

Julie said nothing, only stared at him with a glimmer of something in her eyes. A small laugh escaped her lips, the sound of which tugged against his own until he was smiling too. And speaking of lips, his eyes darted towards hers for a split second. He tried not to stare, but it was hard. They were only inches away from his own. 

The proximity must have gotten to Julie too all of the sudden because a rosiness washed over her cheeks and she was trying her best not to look Luke in the eye. 

“Luke?”

“Yeah, Jules?” 

“Can you, uh, put me down now?” she murmured.

“Y-yeah. Of course.” He set her down gently and she stepped back from him. 

“Uh. Thanks. Thanks again. For helping me bowl better. 

Luke adjusted his hoodie, trying to regain his regular breathing pattern, “No problem.” 

Julie tucked her hair behind her ear, eyes fixed on the ground, “I’m just gonna… gonna go get some snacks. Do you want anything?”

“Uh... ,” Luke’s brain was still playing catch up. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to be nonchalant. He squinted at the snack bar menu from where they were and randomly picked nachos. 

“Okay. I’ll be back,” Then Julie scurried off to the snack bar. 

Luke had to take a seat after that one. 

If he had a little less sense, he would have closed that gap between them and just kiss her right then and there, not caring they were in the middle of a crowded bowling alley. But good thing he barely- just barely- had enough sense to not do that, especially considering that she wanted to spend this special night with Nick and not him initially. 

He knew he had this plan to withhold his feelings as long as needed, but he seriously needed to reprimand himself for the way he handled teaching her how to bowl and how he carried her. Now he won’t stop thinking about the way Julie looked and felt when she was on top of him- 

This pretending thing was getting more difficult to pull off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am, 6AM, writing this on my birthday lol. That's how much I love this story and you guys. Thank you again for all the support. This was some chapter I wrote lol.


	7. Night Out Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night continues and Luke is left feeling confused

Chapter 7 'The Night Out Part II

They didn’t bowl very long after what had happened. 

Julie seemed to have put the incident behind her since coming back from the snack bar with nachos and sodas in tow. She didn’t mention it at all for the rest of their bowling time slot and continued to roll decent shots thanks to Luke's teachings. 

When it came to pack it up and head out, Julie suggested they explored the new shopping complex before circling back to where they parked. He didn’t oppose that, wanting to make up for their lack of one-on-one time lately and hopefully leave her with something tonight that didn’t create such tension between them as earlier. 

It was a beautiful summer night, a slight cool breeze blew over due to their beachside location. They walked out onto the brick pathways, wandering and pointing out specific shops but never had enough interest to step inside them. Under the stringed bulbed lights tethering the palm trees together, they fell naturally into a deep dialogue.

“Are you planning on riding this out for as long as possible?” He referred to their band and their sorta meteoric rise to local fame. 

Luke was curious ever since Julie had joined the band. He and the guys were well rooted in their belief of the band that it was a given that they were gonna try to pursue this. No matter what. 

He was certain Alex and Reggie hadn’t even bothered looking at colleges. But for Julie, he was aware that her parents wanted her to get a college education before anything else. 

She bit her lip, “In a perfect world, I would. But I have been thinking about going to at least music school, or some place where I don’t have to give up music for… computer science or something like that.” 

Luke shuddered, “Can’t imagine being stuck in some cubicle all day,” 

“Can’t imagine getting old,” Julie sighed, looking up at the stars, “But we’re gonna have to eventually. And we’ll eventually do the things we wouldn’t want to do.” 

“Like what?” 

“A bunch of stuff, really. Adulthood is just one compromise after another,” She fiddled with her hands in front of her before giving up and letting them hang at her sides. 

“My mom,” she started, “was this total rock goddess back in the day. Traveling all over, getting drunk in the day, singing at night. The stories she would tell me...” 

Luke nodded, having heard a few and just can’t seem to relate those to the sweet mother he had grown so fond of. Those stories were pretty crazy and were borderline illegal at times, and he had a feeling that Rose even censored the worse parts. 

“She’s still pretty cool,”

Julie smiled wistfully, “She could have been big,” she swiped her hand through the air in a flourish, “ _ Rose and the Petal Pushers _ . But then she got older, got married, had kids- and gave it all up,”

Luke opened his mouth to respond but Julie was quick to amend her previous statement.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly grateful! She’s done so much for me. But I watch her out in the audience when we play…. She’s got this look on her face. She’s proud of me, but I know that she would give anything to get back on stage like that again,” 

Luke thought for a moment before gently nudging into Julie as they walked, “Maybe we can get her in on a track? Mother-daughter power duo would make a great closer,” he suggested. 

“She would love that,” Julie nudged him back. 

They continued on their stroll for a bit longer when she asked, “Do you know if your parents had any dreams they wanted to chase?”

Luke never really talked much about his parents to anyone besides Julie. It was probably because Julie has been over enough times and got to meet them. They loved her, of course, but that was because Julie knew better than to bring up their mutual passion for music. They must have thought this sweet girl was to lead him down a better path. 

Oh how wrong they were. 

He hadn’t given his parents’ lives much thought, but Julie had him straining to find something to say. He did remember one thing, and he was surprised that he was able to in the first place. It wasn’t something his family talked about often. 

“My mom. She wanted to be an actress,” 

“Really?” that stunned Julie. She stared at him in bewilderment. 

He chuckled, “Yeah. She has this drawer of all these Playbills of shows she’s seen, shows she’s been in. I remembered, as a kid, going to the local production of Streetcar Named Desire that she was in,” 

“That play?” Julie recognized, face morphing into disgust. It wasn’t a wholesome play, “How old were you?” 

“Old enough to not know what was going on. But now, thinking back to the lines my mom had to say-” he shuddered while making exaggerated retching noises. Julie giggled, playfully punching him in the shoulder to cut it out before they caused a scene. 

They carried on with their amusement until it grew silent

“What happened?” she asked. 

Luke shrugged, “Over the years, she just stopped acting in plays. She opens that drawer less and less until finally, she locked it,” he said, a somber expression fitted on his face, “That was after… uh… a really bad fight we had. About my music.” 

He had never told anyone about that. He had tried opening that drawer since that night, just wanting to peek into who his mom used to be. 

“I kept trying to open it…. For stupid reasons. To spite her,” He turned his head to look at Julie square in the eye, “But really, I just wanted to see what she had been like back then… maybe the woman she was then… would have supported me in my dreams today. You know?”

He didn’t realize how much of his past was being dredged up in this moment. Seeing his mom up on stage, having fun putting on a show for an audience- it wouldn’t have been such a stretch to say that he might have gotten his stage presence from her. 

But he would never tell her that. There were still too many other things that needed to be said before he could ever be so frank with his mom. 

“Hey,” 

He didn’t realize that his glower was still on display until Julie reached over to hold his hand. His features softened at her calming touch.

“Your dreams are worth chasing, Luke,” she told him gently, “I know it’s hard for you to be at home, to be so uninspired, to have to hide who you are. But, you got to make a new home for yourself where you just get to be you,” she drew closer to him and he swore he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“The band- we’re your home, Luke.” she rolled her eyes at her own words, but he knew she was genuine about them. 

She was right. He had never felt like he fit in anywhere else better than with the band, with Julie. There was a good long while where he thought of Bobby’s garage as home, but now it was more obvious that his home was wherever his band was. Wherever they would roam. 

“Home… is where my horse is,” 

The words left his mouth, meant to be joking but Luke was finally understanding what Reggie meant by that now. Maybe not literally, but he was appreciating the sentiment that his buddy was going for. 

Julie let go of his hands, not taking him seriously anymore, “You’re insane.” 

His mood shifted. He was much happier than he was a second ago, “No, I’m not! You’re my horse!” 

“Excuse me?” she was looking at him like he lost a couple brain cells. He waved it off. 

“I mean like you and the band. You guys are my horse,” he clarified, now smiling. 

Julie nodded, piecing together the metaphor, but wasn’t necessarily happy to be called someone’s ‘horse’. But after a while, she resumed smiling, probably amused by how Luke was finally warming up to Reggie’s song. 

“So, I guess that song is gonna make the cut now?” she asked. 

Luke made a noncommittal sound, “We can workshop it.” 

They cruised by the fountain in the center of the plaza where some street performers had set up shop with mics, amps, and instruments, churning out background music for the people passing by. 

Luke’s ear picked up the tune and was really digging it. Julie was too, swaying to the peppy beat as they walked. They stopped in front of the band, enjoying the performance. 

“It’s a cover,” Julie leaned up to say to him, “of that new Saint Motel song,” 

He and Julie were such hipsters as Flynn had affectionately called them, they rarely invest any time or interest in newer groups. His head had been too busy reveling in the genius that was Rush while Julie would usually rock out to Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ in her room late at night- that was just who they were. 

But they have both agreed that Saint Motel was one of those bands that could carry those sounds from another time and make them fit now. They were fans. 

_ I'm waitin' for that slow dance _

_ So I can feel your arms around me _

_ Wait 'til the music turns to romance _

_ Go tell that DJ that he owes me _

Luke hadn’t been all too caught up on their more recent discography to recognize the song, but was hooked on the keyboard’s bouncy trills. 

Julie took his hand trying to lead him to the center, and Luke knew exactly what she wanted to do. 

“No, no, no,” he planted his feet to keep her from dragging him off, “I don’t dance, Jules. You know that.” 

If hopping around a stage with a guitar was dancing, then he was the king of dancing. But he wasn’t one to do actual dancing, not the kind that Julie takes lessons for. 

“Come on, Luke. It’s  _ my _ turn to teach  _ you _ something,” 

Luke was surprised to refer to the bowling thing so casually, even when the touches they shared back there was anything but casual. 

“Please?” she begged, “We’re not gonna do any advanced stuff if that’s what you’re wondering… it’s more like,” Then she stepped backwards, spinning into jaunty little steps. 

Just because she could do certain movements with ease didn’t mean it was gonna come as naturally for him. But, the way Julie moved, her face to the sky, body swaying- she looked so free. 

He bobbed his head at first, taking tentative steps towards her, their hands still connected. He didn’t want to let her do this all on her own. 

_ I could be your best friend _

_ I could be your centerpiece _

_ I could be your soulmate _

_ I could be your everything _

_ Thunderbolts and lightning _

_ Queuing up the symphony _

Julie took the subtle movements as a good sign, taking his other hand and moving them to the pace of the song, which despite the title, was a bit of a fast tempo. They were mostly swinging side to side, that was until Julie went under his arm, twirling herself around him as the chorus played. 

He stood there like an idiot not knowing what to do next, but all of the sudden, Julie’s arms wrapped around his neck, she was facing him and they jumped, forgoing any formal training she had and just going crazy, head thrashing about and laughing- now this was easy to partake. 

_ Hand on my back, panic attack _

_ Pull it together, don't overreact _

_ Keepin' her close, don't step on her toes _

_ Leave enough room for the holier ghost _

His hands went for her waist for the second time that night, getting a bit more confident in this whole dancing thing. Experimentally, he moved to twist her hips and she complied but she must have thought he wanted to spin her. 

She did a full 180 and her back rested against his front. Immediately, he cocooned her in his arms, his hands clasped at her stomach. They traipsed around like this, with Julie securing her hands over his. His chin rested on her shoulder, she could probably feel him singing along to the song, catching on to the repetitive lyrics by now. 

_ You know I'm waitin' for that slow dance  _

Then the bridge hit and Luke decided to be funny and scoop Julie up bridal style and spin her around. She had been unprepared, but held onto him as it happened, squealing in laughter. 

He eventually had to put her back down, her laughing attracting the attention of disgruntled-looking passerbys who were trying to enjoy a chill evening. He went and stuck his tongue at them before dipping Julie, who then stuck her tongue at them as well. 

_ Romance (Ah-ah) _

_ Too slow, but this is how you show me, woah _

The closing line hung in the air, and Luke was already out of breath from the dancing and the laughing. He had already pulled Julie back up. They turned to applaud the band. Luke went and dropped a couple bucks in the opened guitar case. Gotta support fellow musicians. 

“You did good, Fred Astaire,” Julie clapped him on the back as they started going to the parking lot. 

“Is that another ‘80s reference I’m supposed to know?” 

“Oh god,” 

He loved getting her all riled up like that on purpose. She made this cute little angry face when she clenched her jaw. She made the face quick but it shifted to an expression of gratitude,

“I had fun. You totally turned this whole evening around when you didn’t even have to,” she said, the van now in their sight. 

“But I wanted to…” His hand, shoved into his jacket pocket, swung out to stop Julie from walking any further,  “I-I’ve missed you Jules.” 

She casted her eyes downwards, leaning from side to side, “We see each other all the time, though.” 

“But not like how we used to… haven’t you noticed?”

Luke didn’t realize how much things have changed for them in the past few weeks until tonight, when they were talking about their personal stuff, getting to laugh and hold each other during the good and bad of the evening. He had missed it so much. 

“Yeah, it’s just… I thought I’d give you space, you know?” she confessed “I don’t know if it’s because of your parents or…”

“No. It’s not. If it was, I would have told you,” He sighed, his shoulders slumping “I’m sorry that I’ve been acting weird.” 

“Is it because of Nick?” she pried, “You started acting all weird ever since you found out that I was interested in him.” 

_ Crap. _

Luke said nothing, bouncing on the balls of his feet anticipating for the other shoe to drop. She was gonna connect the dots! She was gonna figure out his feelings for her. He braced for the accusation, the realization dawning on her face. Their relationship was gonna be ruined forever. 

He was ready to deny any evidence of his burning feelings for her- the bowling date, the dancing- pretty much anytime when he was just looking at her, since the day they met- ‘Julie, that’s crazy’ he could say. ‘I do not have feelings for you! How could you ever-’

“Are you worried that I’ll spend more time with Nick and not enough time with you?” 

_ Oh _

That was not how he thought this was gonna go. He read her face, to make sure that was all she thought. 

“... yeah?” Luke cleared his throat to correct his tone, “Yeah. That’s it! Took the words right out of my mouth.” 

“Luke, you know you’ll always be my number one, right? Just because I'm into Nick and I hang out with him more now doesn't mean we won't hang out. Nothing is gonna get in the way of what we have,”

Her words nearly mirrored his thoughts during their first performance together before things went sideways. As much as he liked Nick, he  _ was _ getting in the way of what he and Julie have. As long as he was in the picture, Luke was gonna second  guess every touch and lingering gaze he would give Julie from then on.

If Nick and Julie ever do decide to date, which he could see from how they have been hanging out with each other is a growing possibility, he would have to be prepared to withhold all of that. Nick would probably not appreciate him picking up his girlfriend, dancing with her, and having her face within close proximity to his. 

Their weird past few weeks would be his new reality. 

He must have appeared unconvinced by Julie’s argument because she pulled him into a hug, “Come here. I’m always gonna be there for you.” 

“Yeah,” his tone not matching his dejected demeanor, as if Julie could see while they were embracing. 

They pulled away. Luke cocked his head in the direction of the van,

“Let’s head back,” 

* * *

Luke drove them back to Julie’s and managed to carry on as if he wasn’t just dropkicked into a lion’s den. He dropped her off and she left to go get Reggie, who had been angrily texting them both about them taking his van without his permission. The bassist slid into the passenger seat of the car, already ranting about personal property and whatnot. 

Luke’s stare was fixed straight ahead, letting Reggie go off until he was out of breath. His friend must have caught on that Luke was not mentally present so he leaned over to touch his shoulder. 

“Hey buddy. What’s up?” 

Luke opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Tonight had been… a lot. He got to finally spend some quality time with Julie, but there were so many instances where the line between friends and more than friends blurred that it had Luke feeling so confused. And to just have it end with hearing Julie say that she liked Nick. It felt like a punch in the gut. 

He slowly turned his head to face Reggie, eyes beginning to water against his better judgement. He was just feeling so overwhelmed with everything and he just wished- he just wished he knew what to do...

“I-I’m sorry,” he ended up saying, voice quivering. 

Reggie squinted at him, “What for?” 

“For...not giving ‘Home Is Where My Horse Is’ a chance,” 

The bassist smiled sadly. He didn’t have to elaborate any further before being immediately pulled into a hug. He buried his face into Reggie’s shoulder, the leather of his jacket rubbing against his face in an uncomfortable way. But he didn’t care. He knew if Alex was here, he would be enveloped in this hug too, probably have a few wise words to say to give him clarity on the situation. 

They broke apart, Luke rubbing the tears from his eyes. Ugh, he hated crying. He didn’t know why he got all emotional all of the sudden. 

“Wanna head back with me?” Reggie suggested, pacing his breath as if he had been on the verge of tears himself, “We could pick Alex up from his date. We both know his parents would have a field day if he showed up back there tonight.” 

Luke nodded, not really feeling like coming back to his own house either. They swapped places in the van, and Reggie began driving. 

As they were approaching the theater, Luke mentally slapped himself. He was starting to remember why Reggie had stuck around at the Molinas tonight. His parents have been out on some sort of marriage counseling retreat or something. He would have been all alone at home… Reggie never did well being all by himself. 

God, they were all a mess- him and his boys were. But he felt better to not be spending his night alone either. 

They picked up Alex from the movies, waving at Willie as they pulled away and all the solemn mood dissipated as their drummer spoke excitedly about his good time with Willie. 

As they neared Reggie’s, Luke shared a look with his friends, both of them giving their comforting smiles and pats on the shoulder. 

Despite what happened tonight, he knew he was pretty lucky. That his horses had his back no matter what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty long. I've been listening to this Saint Motel song nonstop and i wanted to put it in this chap so badly.  
> Ended sadder than i thought it would but just wanna show a bit more of the boys' bond towards the end.


	8. Band of Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke gets to hang out with his boys and he feels a bit better... up until one of them drops a major bombshell.

Chapter 8 'Band of Brothers'

Luke woke up at around noon, his back sore from having slept on Reggie’s bedroom floor. 

Yawning, he rolled over and immediately bumped into Alex who had been snoozing alongside him. He didn’t have to look but he knew Reggie was laying a little ways away, his snores whispering at Luke’s feet. The bed would always be vacant whenever he and Alex would be over, he would always feel guilty for sleeping there when his friends couldn’t have a nice place to sleep. 

It was that kind of weird, brotherly solidarity was what kept Luke from completely breaking down and going off to do something stupid last night and he was lucky that both Reggie and Alex were able to talk him through it. 

And it had been about high time they talked too- they were all going through so much. 

Reggie’s parents had been taking steps to try and fix their marriage, but he was pretty sure that nothing was going to help the bickering couple at this point. And during all of this, neither one of his parents had paid any attention to him. 

They had no clue about how well the band was doing or where he would be driving the van off to. He had been spending more time at the Molinas because of this, even when Julie wasn’t home. And from what Luke could tell, the bassist was much better off there. 

Alex’s parents were a different story. They were always on his case, especially since coming out to them. Apparently, they had been trying to veer him off the “path of sin” or whatever and had been relentless in trying to pair him off with girls from their church. That was why he and Willie had to go to a movie theater further away from his house for their date. 

It had gotten too much for Alex sometimes, especially when out of all of them, he was the only one who had a sibling to look out for- his little sister. She had been the reason why Alex stayed and put up with all of this crap. 

And he got to tell them the whole thing about Julie, and even a bit of what he and Julie had talked about, the tidbit about him and his mom disagreeing. He didn’t realize how much that one had stung until he told the guys about it. 

They must have stayed up til’ 3 just talking and playing video games. And like how Luke had been missing out on his quality time with Julie, it had occurred to him that it had been much longer since he had time like this with just the boys that had nothing to do with the band. 

But as much as Luke wanted to chill here with them until he could muster up enough courage to head home, he knew they couldn’t stay. They did have some stuff to go over for their next gig lined up- a music festival. So he was tasked with a difficult duty and to rouse his bandmates from their slumber. 

The first thing he did was kick Reggie in the face. He could hear him groan in response. Then he pushed against Alex, rocking him back and forth, “Rise and shine, boys.” he urged. 

Tired protests came from both of them but Luke was already on his feet, heading for the kitchen to make them something to eat. He ransacked the pantries for ingredients but got interrupted by Reggie shuffling in.

He raised a brow at the assortment of food scattered on the counters and shook his head. He relieved Luke from kitchen duty and went to make them some pancakes from scratch. 

Thank god because Luke had no idea what he was doing anyway. 

Alex joined them not too long after, having gone to the bathroom to splash some water on his face to really wake himself up. Both he and Luke sat on the counters on either side of Reggie making their pancakes. 

Alex had a faraway look in his eyes and kept sighing. Luke knew that look. Grinning, he asked, “You thinking about a certain skater?”

The drummer didn’t even try to deny it. They all knew that despite the simplicity of the date- dinner and a movie- it had been a magical evening for Alex. He had told them about how they had held hands and how they were howling at the moon, not caring who heard them. 

“Are you gonna see him again soon?” Reggie inquired, flipping the first pancake. 

Alex nodded, “I’d be crazy not to. He shifted on the counter, running his hand through his hair, “Willie’s like the first guy who… I don’t know… who makes me feel happy. Like I deserve to be happy.”

The sentiment was sweet, it even had Luke sighing along with the lovestruck blonde. Everyone in their group knew that it had been a long journey for Alex to be comfortable with himself and with his sexuality. For him to admit that he wanted to be happy and that he’d want to be happy with Willie… it was huge. 

“C’mon, Alex I thought we did all of our crying last night,” Reggie groaned, fanning at his face, “Unless you don’t want whip cream to top your breakfast and would like my tears instead.” 

“Well, I’d like to say that _we’re_ happy for you, Alex,” Luke spoke on his and Reggie’s behalf, “Glad that one of us in this group can maintain a relationship.” 

“I’m feeling that’s a direct attack towards someone in this group. And that person is very hurt right now,” 

Luke rolled his eyes, “I’m talking about me too, Reggie.” 

He had watched Reggie strike out over the years with many girls, and even some guys but had always applauded him for just trying and to keep trying every time. Meanwhile, Luke had the one serious crush on Julie and he couldn’t even fathom the idea of moving on and trying his luck with someone else. 

“Are you thinking about a certain singer?” Alex flipped the question on him. 

And much like how Alex responded, Luke didn’t bother denying it. They already knew all that happened last night- the bowling lesson, the dancing, the let down. 

Reggie finished making a couple more pancakes. He couldn’t even bring the plate to the table because Luke and Alex swiped all of them and stuffed them in their mouths. 

“Seconds it is,” he resigned and went to make another batch. Luke moaned at the buttery goodness that was the pancake. Reggie was a really good cook. 

As he cracked more eggs into the bowl, Reggie spoke, “You know what? I’m not buying this whole ‘I like Nick’ thing from her.”

Alex snapped, in agreement, “Yes! And we’re not saying this because you’re our buddy and we love you, but I wouldn’t count out Julie liking you back.” 

Luke waved them off. It did sound like they were just telling him things he wanted to hear, “I don’t know, guys. I think the words ‘I’m into Nick’ are pretty cut and dry.” 

“Well… let’s see. What do we know about Nick? He’s a guy with cool hair. He plays guitar. Very excited and passionate,” Alex counted off, staring at Luke as if it was supposed to trigger something. 

“Yeah. He’s great. So what?” 

The noise of kitchen supplies landing on the counter in a clatter drew the boys’ attention to the bassist, “Sounds a lot like you, isn’t it Luke?” Reggie blew out, frustrated that _Luke_ was so dense. 

“That’s a coincidence,” Luke didn’t really believe that Julie was seeking out guys who reminded her of him in some way. It was ridiculous, 

“And besides, we’re totally different guys! Like, he plays football when I don’t. And I’m an only child and he’s got a brother and sister. And he likes the Star Wars prequels, and I clearly don’t.” 

Reggie scoffed, “Don’t remind me. I think that’s the one thing about him I can’t stand.” 

“Okay, but like… you and Julie already act like a couple. Last night was without a doubt a date,” Alex ran over the events in his mind, “I mean if I was there in that bowling alley I would have told you guys to get a room. Geez, the girl was straddling you and you think she just wants to be friends.”

“That was an accident,” 

“And her pulling you onto the dancefloor was?” 

“But-”

“-And you sneaking into her room at night. Like who does that?” 

“We write songs! We don’t do anything… well… weird,” Luke countered. 

“But you want to, don’t you?” Luke didn’t have to look at Reggie to know that he was throwing suggestive winks at him. 

“It doesn’t matter if I do-”

“So you admit that you do,” Alex cut in, a smile growing on his face. 

“What? No,” Luke spluttered, not wanting to get into _that_ , “I’m saying that it doesn’t matter. And I’m sorry but Julie would have said something by now. And you know she doesn’t lie to us. So when she says, ‘I like Nick’, I’m sorry boys but as much as it… hurts,” he sighed, “I’m gonna believe her. And I’m gonna respect her choice. I respect her _and_ Nick too much to let myself get in the way.”

“Wow,” Reggie remarked, “When did you get so emotionally mature?” 

Luke could understand where Reggie was coming from. He had been known to get really petty and stubborn over silly things and it would cause him to engage in some, admittedly, brash antics. 

Once, he had gotten so heated after a butting heads with an arrogant substitute teacher that he may have... glued his car doors shut. But then again, he vaguely remembered a certain bassist holding the can of the industrial adhesive too…

But he had given up all of that. He wanted to be better, and it wasn’t until he had met Julie that he felt like he could be. 

Luke merely ruffled Reggie’s hair, not bothering to answer his question, “You done with those seconds?” 

The bassist had only made a couple pancakes, “Not yet. Why? Are you gonna eat them without syrup again? You heathens.” 

They waited until Reggie was done with all the pancakes and brought it to the table to set up their toppings. Alex tore through a bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups for his serving.

Meanwhile, Luke decided to go for his usual. He brought out the blueberries, then layered it with peanut butter, sprinkling some Pringles, and slathering it all in syrup. He topped it with another pancake to make his delicious sandwich. 

“Scratch that. This,” Alex motioned at Luke's monstrosity of a meal, “right here, is blasphemy.” 

Luke took a large bite to spite him, “Then why is it so good?” he grinned, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. 

Then, Alex had gotten a notification on his phone, he pulled it out as he munched on his pancakes, “Oh hey!” he exclaimed, crumbs falling out. 

“What is it?”

“Flynn forwarded me an email she got from the BandSlam people,” 

“Is it safe to say that Flynn is our manager now?” Luke wondered. 

Reggie shrugged, “I mean she just manages all of our social media, promotions, tells us about gigs, runs merch by us-,” his words caught up with him, eyes wide, “Oh my god! She _so_ is!” 

Flynn had taken up the unofficial role as Sunset Curve’s manager this past month. The boys had no clue how to navigate the social media terrain, mostly sticking to their ‘play anywhere and everywhere’ tactic to spread the word of their band. 

Old school, he knew. But they really couldn’t have gotten the jump on the new wave of gigs if it weren’t for Flynn, who was comfortable in making deals and negotiating on their behalf. There were some meetings with promoters that left her fuming and had her turn down several offers down left and right. 

“They were trying to lowball you. Not on _my_ watch,” she would say to justify the missed opportunities, which was something Luke had to get used to. But it was good to know that Flynn had their backs and made sure that they were getting the most on their end of the deal. 

Maybe if they had Flynn years ago, then they wouldn’t have been forced to play moms’ book clubs out of desperation. 

“What did they say?”

“Just details for the party tonight,” 

_“Party?”_ Reggie and Luke said, baffled. 

Alex shot them both a look, “You know? To kick off the music festival? All the acts playing this weekend will be there?”

“Pause,” Luke made a T-formation with his hands, “When did _you_ find out about it?” 

“Like a week ago,” 

“And when were you going to tell us?” 

The drummer stopped mid-chew, his gaze cast downwards, “...a week ago,” he mumbled. 

“Dude!” Reggie cried out, swatting the blonde on the shoulder. 

“I’m sorry!” Alex held his hands out in surrender, “I guess I got too caught up planning my date with Willie that I just forgot.” 

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. He thought they were gonna have some time tonight to perfect their set for the festival but now he had to worry about schmoozing with a bunch of executives and other musicians. The latter didn’t sound too bad, but he was worried. 

Reckless Luke from years ago had loved to show off at parties, getting drunk, and just causing trouble. He had tried to abstain from parties ever since he and the guys had gotten into a bit of trouble with law enforcement at the last one they had been at. About a year ago. 

He didn’t want to accidentally fall back into his old ways, embarrassing himself and the band while he was there. But after last night, letting loose and being carefree sounded so tempting- 

The boys must have sensed him getting caught up in his thoughts because he felt hands on his shoulders. 

“You gonna be okay? We don’t have to go,” 

“Yeah, we’ll ditch it then go rehearse. Have another sleepover afterwards,” 

Luke shook his head, “No. It won’t make a good impression. As long as I don’t get any drinks in me then I’m good.” 

Reggie looked like he wanted to say more, but instead settled for: “If you say so.” 

“I did say so,” Then Luke turned to Alex, “Now, where are we going tonight?” 

* * *

The boys had driven to Julie’s about an hour since their late breakfast. They did need to squeeze in one more practice before this party tonight. They were all there- The band, Flynn, Nick, and Willie- for this one practice before they jet off to the party later.

They had been going over a cover of a Steve Wynn song, set to a much faster tempo. Apparently, it had been customary for one of the songs they would need to perform at the festival to be a cover, which got everyone anxious.

But once they had picked the song and started riffing on it, it started to sound really good, sounded more reminiscent of the sound they had before Julie, but of course her vocals took it over the top. And to pair this with ‘Finally Free’- the set was going to kill this weekend. 

_On the seventh hour of the seventh day_

_The seventh son was looking for a seventh stage get away_

_The word came down from a blinding light_

_You got one chance, baby, baby, you better do it right_

Julie was singing over her keyboard, stomping her foot wishing she could just thrash around like the song willed her to, how it willed all of them to. Luke thought he was really feeling it but he had found himself stationary at his mic when wailing out on what were probably the more difficult guitar parts he had to learn. 

He didn’t realize it but every time he looked up, he had been purposely avoiding looking at Julie. 

Then she hit a couple buttons on the keyboard and it started to play the last few measures she had going on, freeing her from staying so still. She ran to the center, belting out the rest of the lines, getting really into it. 

_I was driving down on the 101_

_It was late at night and I was thinking 'bout the things I'd done_

_All of my regrets and, baby, all of my fears_

_I was slipping the car from gear to gear to gear_

She jumped near Reggie and they both were head banging in unison, looking like they were having the time of their lives. Then, she went behind the drumset, tearing Alex's cap off and ruffling his hair. That act got Willie to cheer at the sight of his maybe-boyfriend’s blonde locks flying in the wind. 

_God bless the child, God bless his soul_

_God perish the idea that he'll die before he's old…_

Then it came to him, and Luke thought that she was gonna gloss over him like she had been doing during rehearsals, especially the ones Nick had been at. But no, she got all up in his face, she dropped her mic so she could commandeer Luke’s. He gulped at how close they were again, and it hadn’t been even 24 hours since the last time they had their faces like this. 

He spared a quick glance at Nick, who didn’t seem to have a problem with it, just really jamming out to the show. But still, he moved to put some distance between him and Julie. 

_You gotta be cool, you got to behave_

_And there'll be time for that when I'm lying in my grave_

Julie arched an eyebrow at him, still mouthing the words. Was she hurt that he wouldn’t come near her? But he was doing this for her sake. For Nick’s sake. 

But then with one hand, she retrieved her fallen mic, and grabbed Luke’s shirt collar with the other, pulling him towards her. She kept taking steps backwards and he ended up doing a poor excuse of a Chuck Berry duck walk as she roped him along. 

_You gotta watch your step, or you'll lose your way_

_Take heed of your elders and do everything they say_

_Watch out for the man, the man who tolls the bells_

She bounced around and with her grip still tight on his shirt, he followed along. He laughed, uneasy, not wanting to get his feelings muddled up again but the way they were vibing with each other… it was reminiscent of their first show together. It was like the spark they had then was reignited. 

Then as soon as they got close again, she playful pushed him away just in time for them to cease playing, making way for Julie’s acapella, apart from the raging beats of Alex’s drum solo.

_But if I fear for the devil and I fear for myself_

_Then I'm gonna have to fear for everybody else_

_Hey!_

The boys went for the mics, backing Julie up in the chorus after every line, “ _Sha la la la mama yeah”_

Julie ran back to the keyboard, going ham on the keys, never losing her momentum. 

_And I’m gonna fly!_

She seemed to declare, the boys and their friends singing the nonsense phrase back at her.

_I'm gonna live!_

She pointed to their audience of friends as they sang-screamed in response, “ _Sha la la la mama yeah!”_

Until the day I die! (Sha la la mama yeah!)  
  


 _Ain't got time_ ( _Sha la la la mama yeah!)_

 _to wonder why_ ( _Sha la la la mama yeah!)_

_I'm gonna live until the day I die_

_Hey, hey hey!_

Their friends were all on their feet by the end when Julie joined them in chorusing the _“Sha la la la mama yeah!”_

Just on repeat. Luke, fueled by the singer’s passion, ran around the room, wherever his wire would let him go, sliding up against Flynn and Nick as they all sang.

Reggie started spinning round and round uncontrollably, nearly tripping but he didn’t care. 

Alex could be heard roaring in laughter in the back, trying to hold back on the power he was unleashing on the drums, daring his dancing friends to go faster. Willie had gotten in front, just hopping around and whipping his hair around at Alex which triggered a wink from the drummer. 

At the last ‘ _Sha la la la mama’_ , they all finished with their own crazy solos that lasted for a couple minutes- it was chaotic. 

Luke felt himself getting lost in the music, the thrill of it, just releasing all that pent of frustration that he didn’t notice that everyone else had stopped playing until everyone’s eyes were on him. His hand slipped mid solo and it birthed the most punk guitar slide that he had ever heard. 

“That. Was. Awesome!” Nick ran up at him and picked him up, still fired up from the song. Luke let a surprised gasp which morphed into a chuckle. The rest of their friends, even the band who emerged from behind their instruments, surrounded them and it turned into one big group hug. 

They were all over each other for some minutes, trying to catch their breaths from that blood pumping jam session. 

“Look, I’m all sweaty,” Flynn complained as she broke their hug first. She shook her arms out to try and keep herself from sweating even more, “We don’t have too much time before the party for me to fix this.” 

Julie made a noise in agreement, following after Flynn. They were gonna go over to hers to get ready, “That was really fun, guys! We’re definitely gonna blow BandSlam away!” 

“How could we not?” Reggie bellowed. 

“You totally killed it, Hot Dog,” Willie complimented, reaching over to hold Alex’s, albeit sweaty, hand. 

Luke couldn’t tell if Alex was red in the face from all that playing or from receiving Willie’s high praises, “You think so?” 

The skater’s hand reached behind the drummer’s neck, bringing their foreheads together, “I know so.” 

“Stop it! We get it! You’re cute!” Reggie cut in while the girls ‘awwed’. 

“Lighten up, Reg,” Nick patted the bassist on the shoulder, “Maybe you’ll find someone at the party tonight.” 

“Oooh. You’re right!” Reggie elbowed him, “Wingman?”

Nick elbowed him back, grinning, “Wingman.” 

“Alright!” Julie had to go, “You guys can stay as long as you want, but me and Flynn gotta bounce. See you all tonight.” 

Luke had to take in deep careful breaths as Julie left, her gaze lingering at Nick before Flynn pulled her away. 

Reggie left to go run a quick errand in his van before he was going to drive them all back to his to get ready together. Willie and Alex took this time to go on a walk around the Molina’s backyard. 

Maybe those two idiots would finally kiss, Luke thought to himself. 

Now it was just him and Nick in the studio. Luke sighed at always being the last one left behind to clean up their gear. He figured he should have ran out just as fast the others. 

Nick ambled towards the couches, running a hand through his hair, “Just can’t believe it.” 

Luke still had yet to know a lot of about Nick so he wasn’t sure what he meant by that, “Can’t believe what?” 

“That _this_ is my life now,” the footballer didn’t seem to be upset by the fact, the complete opposite in fact. 

“Hanging out with rock bands, going to exclusive parties?” 

“No… just,” Nick thought for a moment, “Having friends that care, you know? Like, care about things.” 

Luke cocked his head, not sure what to make of this sudden admission. He knew the guys Nick would hang out with, fellow football knuckleheads who didn’t care who they pushed around. He kicked himself for not realizing that when they were so surprised by Nick’s good character, realizing that he was nice- that it must be hard to compromise his goodness just to hangout with those goons. 

“I bet they care,” Luke tried. 

But Nick shook his head, “Can never talk to those guys about anything but girls, football, and booze.” 

“Must suck. To be the only one around who has any sense. Trust me, I know.” he joked which seemed to lighten up the mood. 

“Just… you guys, you band of brothers- like you care so much about each other. And you tell each other and you show each other.” 

That was something Luke had been hearing more and more regarding his relationship with Alex and Reggie. Carlos had told them once that none of the guys at his school would even hug each other the way he and his boys did, let alone have real talk with each other. 

They had been through hell and back with each other, they had seen too much of their bad times for them to notice and celebrate their good times. Again, Luke didn’t bother with indifference, especially when it came to people he loved. 

“I never felt like I really fit in with the rest of Varsity. And as much as you guys really took me in and made me feel welcomed,” Nick turned to face Luke, “I can’t help but feel like I’m intruding on something.” 

“What? Dude, no.” Luke neared Nick, setting a hand on his shoulder, “You’re part of this crew now. We wouldn’t want to have you go back to those Varsity turd eaters.” 

Luke really felt for Nick- trying to find a place where he belonged. Before he had met Reggie and Alex, he had been just as lost. He could help but feel a bit guilty. Was it him? Had he been giving off bad vibes to Nick because of his feelings for Julie? He had sworn that he was way past that and that he considered Nick to be a friend now. 

“Luke, I know.” 

“Know what?” 

“That you’re into Julie,” 

Luke's face fell, hands up already in defense, “No bro, you got it all wrong-” 

“-it’s alright-” 

“-I respect you both to let myself get in the between-”

“-dude, there’s nothing to be sorry for-”

“-I know you guys dig each other-” 

"-it's not what _you_ think-"

"-you're my buddy, and I could never-"

“Luke, you’re not listening!” Nick grabbed his shoulders to force him to stop talking. He took a deep breath:

“I’m not going after Julie.” 

That shut Luke up. 

He felt like his brain was about to explode into a million pieces because this. did. not. make. sense. 

_Wait. What?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys hope you enjoy this chapter! If you're wondering the song is Amphetamine, originally by Steve Wynn but I've only listened to the Aly Michalka version, from the movie Bandslam. You should check it out, it really does excite you as much as it excites the characters. It was a pretty cool movie that came out like 10 years ago (?) and had really good music. That's where I got the name for the music festival from.
> 
> And Luke's disgusting pancake dish was inspired by something Charlie actually did with his waffles...


	9. Aftermath: Party Traumatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's left to fix the mess he made at the party. But one problem: what even happened last night?

Chapter 9 'Aftermath: Party Traumatic'

Luke was literally having a conniption. Or a stroke, or something. 

First things first… he felt an instant rush of relief. 

Well, he had said he had accepted the idea of Nick and Julie… but he was totally lying. Like come on. 

He had been so beat up about it, but he wasn’t going to do anything to get in between them. But there was that pressure that rolled right off of him, of having to battle him for Julie’s time and attention. 

Then the relief turned indignant. 

“What do you mean you’re not going after her? What don’t you like about her?” He demanded, getting offended on Julie’s behalf. 

How come he hadn’t been crushing on her just as much as she did him? He was curious, so genuinely curious on how Nick could find anything wrong with Julie. They were talking about the same girl here, right?

“Look, Luke. I gotta admit, I did like her that way. At first.” 

Okay, so Luke wasn’t crazy. I mean with the way he would say ‘Molina’ it was kind of obvious that he digged her. He’d hate to admit that he could identify the signs when someone was in love with Julie. It took one to know one... 

“But now?” 

Nick sank into the couch, combing his hair back and with an unreadable expression on his face, “The whole thing with Carrie… just messed me up for a bit. How long was I with her? Like 3 years and through all the time she just became-” 

“A monster? The devil in a pastel pink wig?” 

The freckled face boy gave a half smile at that, “She wasn’t always like that. And… she’d been through some stuff. Could be why I even excused all the stuff she’s done. And said,” he exhaled loudly, “But really I think, it’s always been me and her, I’d just forgotten what it was like to be me. And if I had remembered who I was, then maybe I wouldn’t have let it slide...” 

“I’ve always wondered why you had put up with the likes of her. The likes of your Varsity pals. You know, for a second, we thought you were gonna turn out just like them,” 

Luke and the others had their fair share of run-ins with the football team, none of them good. But then again, he didn’t remember Nick taking part in their torment, not even for a second, but he could totally see him being forced to turn a blind eye when such things happened. 

“They’re familiar. I’ve known that crowd since middle school. I just got used to it. That was why it took so long for me to finally break things off with Carrie, to cut ties with everyone who forced me to compromise my values,” 

Luke bet that hadn’t been easy. He had been rolling with Reggie and Alex for pretty much the same amount of time as Nick and his football friends, he could never imagine just upping and leaving whenever things no longer suited him. Maybe it was because Reggie and Alex had been so good to him and had never asked him to be anything but himself that he would have no reason to leave...

“A fresh start. Mad respect man, gotta tell you that,” 

A more sincere smile appeared on Nick’s face “Thanks. Julie brought that fresh start. Inviting me to the show, meeting you guys. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy hanging out with a group of people in a long time.” 

The mention of Julie brought Luke back to why they were talking in the first place, “But you still don’t want to pursue something with Julie? She’s crazy about you.” 

“She’s pretty amazing,” he let out a wistful sigh and for a second Luke thought he was rethinking his stance on his feelings for Julie. But he shook his head, “But I think this isn’t the best time for me to jump into another relationship. I just want to figure myself out and surround myself with good company. And besides,” He playfully nudged Luke, “I respect _you_ too much to let _myself_ get in the way.” 

Wow. Nick was just full of surprises. But his latest statement just put a damper on Luke’s mood. 

“What’s there to get in the way of? Yeah, I like her, so what? You’re the one she’s holding a candle for.”

“Well not after tonight…” 

Luke frowned, “What… what do you mean?”

“I think I overheard her and Flynn talking about her going to try and finally make a move tonight at the party. I’m gonna have to shoot it to her straight and tell her that I don’t want to date, ” 

Oh no. This was not good, Luke thought. The past month her going on about her feelings for Nick, on how she really thought she had a chance with him- Julie was gonna get crushed. 

She could have tried to ask Nick out earlier, but he knew Julie was the kind of girl to kind of wait it out, she was still pretty shy when it came to the whole relationship thing and she really wouldn’t want to make such a fool of herself. 

This rejection was definitely going to sting. 

For a split second, Luke was seriously considering begging Nick to not officially squash things with Julie, to just suck it up and go out with her so she could be happy. He didn’t care that it was Nick and not him that got to be with her, as long as she didn’t get hurt. 

He couldn’t bear to see her get hurt. 

He was on his feet instantly, ready to do what? He didn’t know. To run off to Flynn’s on the other side of town and warn Julie? But what good would it do? She was not gonna get the guy of her dreams either way and that would make him front row to the waterworks that was definitely gonna happen when she finds out… 

“Luke, please,” Nick said, as if he already knew what was going on in his head, “I need to be the one to tell her. She needs to hear it from me.” 

He clenched his fists, feeling so trapped between honoring this friend's wish and protecting the girl he cared about. A queasy, bubbling was happening in his stomach, he was feeling lightheaded- it was as if his whole body was now reacting to the predicament he was in. He wanted to throw something, he wanted to just kick a table down and scream because he couldn’t do anything about it. 

But eventually, Luke nodded his head, begrudgingly. Nick was right. He had to be the one to do it, it was his feelings that he needed to talk about. Not Luke’s. 

“Just…promise me,” Luke said finally after a period of silence, “That you’re gonna be gentle about it. But don’t be patronizing...I think she’d hate that even more.” 

“What? Like say, ‘I still want to be friends’? I still do,” Nick’s head drooped, “But I think it’s gonna be awhile before we’re cool again.” 

“Before _we’re_ all cool again,” 

Luke realized that Nick, by being his goody-two shoes self and telling Julie the truth, was risking the relationships he had built here. The way they all were just now- him, the band, Flynn and Willie wrapped up in that big group hug- that might not happen for quite some time… maybe even ever, depending on how Julie would react to the news. 

“You know… you can still come to practice, right? After tonight?” he offered, feeling himself cool down from his internal raging out. He just wanted to make sure Nick knew that their door was always open. 

Nick shook his head, “I don’t want to make it weird for Julie. For any of you.” 

“You can hang out with me and the boys then. I just don’t…” They both heard Willie and Alex returning from their little garden stroll. They needed to wrap this up. 

“...Don’t want you to have to start from scratch. You know, with fresh starts.” 

Nick rose from the couch and went to shake Luke’s hand but he refused, “None of that, come here.” 

Then he pulled him into a hug, clapping his back in the process. If someone had told him a month ago that he would be initiating a hug between him and the captain of the football team, he would have laughed in their face. But hey, here they were. 

“Woah, what do we have here?” Alex commented once he and Willie stepped through the open garage doors. 

“It’s a hug, doofus,” Luke said, still in Nick’s hold, he could feel the other guy chuckling. 

“Yeah, Alex. Do you want in?” Nick asked. 

Alex and Willie shrugged and didn’t question the two any further and joined in on the group hug. Soon after, Reggie came barging in, spinning his keys on his finger. 

“Okay, so I was able to stop by the store for snacks, and I- oh come on! You guys are hugging without me?” 

Nick opened up the right side of his body, extending a welcome to partake in the hug, “Get over here, Reg.” 

“That’s more like it!” The bassist swiftly stuffed his keys in his pocket before running and jumping on the rest of the boys. They stood there for some time. Then Reggie had to ask, “Uh… is there a reason that we’re doing this?” 

Luke thought it was best to keep what Nick and him talked about a secret for now so his response was: “Does there have to be a reason?” 

They broke apart and Reggie clapped his hands together, “Alright! This is gonna be some party, right?” 

Scatters of agreements sprouted from the group of guys as Reggie directed them all to his van, “Apparently from what Alex had told me earlier, it’s gonna be at the festival coordinator’s beach house. Near Malibu.” 

“A party in Malibu? Damn, you know it’s gonna get crazy!” Willie laughed, piling into the back of the van with Alex in tow. 

“Uhh… hopefully not too crazy,” the drummer said, “It sounds pretty fun still.” 

“Yeah,” Luke said, not as excited as the others, as he buckled up in the front with Reggie, “Total fun.”

He was sort of bracing himself for the long night ahead of him, the incoming storm that was to come afterwards with Nick’s confession to Julie, the inevitable talk with Julie to console her broken heart… 

Luke just had this sinking feeling that this party may just be one big disaster waiting to happen. But he said none of this to his friends who were obviously pumped about going to such an event. It was best to keep quiet for now, and who knows, maybe it could turn out better than he thought. Maybe it would keep his mind off Julie and Nick...

* * *

These were not his sunglasses.

That was Luke’s first thought as he woke up, looking up at the sun through shades he didn’t remember owning. 

The second thought was figuring out what the rocking sensation was. He could feel his whole body oscillating- back and forth? No. It was like he was swaying but moving forward. He couldn’t tell, his head was hurting so much. 

He brought his hand down to push himself up. Once he felt the squeak of plastic and whatever he had been laying on give way, he had no time to cry out before he flipped over into icy cold waters. 

Good thing too. Or else his mouth would have been filled with water. 

Wait. 

Once he had submerged, the shades had fallen off, and he was immediately blinded by daylight. He thrashed around in the water, to take in his surroundings. It was taking a while for his eyes to adjust, but it just hurt to look at everything. 

His vision was starting to come back as he swam to the ladder of the pool he was currently in. His sights were set on the house that was not too far away, but it wasn’t the house he had gone to for the party. 

Groaning, he had realized he wasn’t even in Malibu. He was at the Hendersons; their house was across the street from his place. 

He tried dunking his head a couple times, to just wake himself up in case he was dreaming. Nope. 

He scrambled up the ladder with much difficulty. He didn’t realize why until he looked down and saw he was wearing some sort of furry looking shawl. What the hell? He definitely did not wear that to the party. 

The party! 

He started patting himself down, frantically, “No, no, no, no,”

His pockets came out empty. He couldn’t find his phone on him. But he was pretty sure that it was in fact the day after the party. 

But he couldn’t remember a thing. 

His hand went for his head. Damn. He had been drinking, hadn’t he? He was totally hungover and lost any memory of the night before. 

What happened? How did he end up so far from the party? 

He needed answers. He hustled out of the Hendersons yard before they could come out and start yelling at him. He knew where to go, just needed to make sure that he ran fast, in case someone, like his parents, recognized him. 

As if they could recognize him, he looked like some sort of drowned animal, given this weird jacket he was wearing. 

He went straight for the Molinas. Hopefully Julie knew what happened. And hopefully she was awake. Luke had no idea what time it was. He did get strange looks from cars passing by, but no one had stopped him. 

He raced up the driveway, up the steps and rang on the doorbell repeatedly. Rose opened the door, “Luke?” she yelped, taking in his strange appearance. 

“Hey!” he wiped some of the excess water off his face. Or tried to. He was practically dripping on their doormat, “I’m so sorry about all this-” 

Rose's hands reached out to cradle his face, “What happened to your eye?” 

_“What?”_

The woman walked off to grab a handheld mirror from the bathroom and held it to his face. Luke leaned forward, stunned to see his left eye was purple and bruised. His fingers touched the large spot, wincing in pain. 

“How did you get so injured?” 

“I-I I don’t know! I figured at the party. Something happened. I don’t remember anything. I came here to see if Julie knew anything, if she could help me,” 

Rose’s eyes shifted downwards and she closed the door a little so only her head was leaning out, “I don’t think she can help you right now.” she brought her voice down to a whisper. 

“Why?” 

Rose sighed, “You’re right. Something did happen last night. And she’s still very upset about it.” 

Luke shut his eyes, sighing, “Is this about Nick?” 

The woman smiled sadly at him, “You really don’t remember anything, do you?” 

Luke felt so hollow. By the way she had said, it made it seem like… 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to see her. She’s going to need some time,” She lay a comforting hand on his arm, “Do you need me to get you some warm clothes at least?” 

Luke shook his head, stumbling backwards. He needed… he needed to figure this out. Julie didn’t want to see him. She was upset with _him._

“Could you- could you just call Reggie so he could pick me up? I’ll… I’ll be waiting by the studio. Is that okay?” 

Rose nodded solemnly. She looked like she wanted to say more but instead shut the door to go make the call. 

In a daze, he stumbled through their yard until he reached the gate. Pushing the gate, he looked up past the tree and at Julie’s bedroom window. He was tempted to climb up and tap on the glass, but what Rose said… she didn’t want to see him. 

He needed to know what he did last night that warranted this silent treatment. 

The sight of the studio gave him huge relief. He ran inside quickly, shutting the doors behind him as if he needed to weather a storm. He leaned against the door, shaking. 

“Took you long enough,” a deep voice caused him to look up. 

“Alex?” 

The blonde was laying on the table rather than the couch. He too looked worse for wear, maybe worse than Luke. Sitting up to greet him, he noticed a deep red stain all over his thin white shirt- wine? His hair was all muddled… and dyed? He could see streaks of blue in the sea of blonde now. 

And he was missing a shoe and the fanny pack that he was always wearing, lay limp on the floor, most of its contents discarded all over the carpet. 

But what was weird that he had been holding one of those voice modulation microphones in his hand. He had used it to alert Luke to his presence, dropping his voice a couple octaves. 

Luke rushed to his friend’s side, helping him off the table and guided him to the couch, “Buddy, how did you get here? Are you okay?” he fussed over Alex. 

“Me. What about you? You took one helluva beating last night,” he slurred, still not fully awake. 

Luke’s eyes widened, gripping onto Alex’s shirt, “You remembered what happened last night?” 

“Sorta. Not all of it. But I’m pretty sure Willie knows more about it…” he looked around, “...uh, where’s Willie?” 

“Didn’t he come here with you last night?” 

“Yeah, we were meant to camp out here because- get this- someone stole the van while we all made a pit stop at the gas station,” 

“The van?!” Luke groaned. Just their luck. The only reason he had Rose call Reggie because he thought he would get here in a hurry and maybe bring him back to his place, “Was this on the way back from the party?” 

“Yeah. We ducked out of there once we saw that you ran off. You hitched a ride with someone. We wanted to follow you and see you’re okay.” 

“I-what?” that didn’t sound like him at all. To go with some stranger? 

“Hey… I have a really bad idea,” Alex grunted, reaching out for his fanny pack. Luke went to collect his things and put it inside his fanny pack, but left his phone out to hand to him. The blonde traded the microphone for his phone, “There’s a way we could piece together what happened.” 

Luke was dreading this, but yeah. Social media existed. 

Alex turned his phone on and was immediately blinded with all the messages on his phone. A lot of them from Reggie. A few from Nick and Flynn. But he had plenty of missed calls from his dad and Willie. 

“You could call Willie, see where he is?” 

Alex hummed, “I think I know where he is,” he had pulled up a message from Reggie. He tilted the phone so Luke could see a picture of Willie snoozing on the floor of Reggie’s bathroom, and surprisingly he looked relatively similar to before they set off for the party. 

Mystery solved. 

Then Alex sighed before pulling up Snapchat. He went straight to Carrie’s story. 

“Carrie was there last night?” 

“Dirty Candy is on the lineup, man,” he reminded him, and Luke vaguely remembered that.

The story opened up with some pretty normal Carrie activity, some close up selfies before heading to the party, flexing her wealth, but then it got to a full body picture with some of the other girls from Dirty Candy when Luke pointed out, 

“I’m wearing her jacket!” He shook out the water from the cursed article of clothing. 

Alex looked up, trying to pull something from his memory, “You guys did talk last night. I remembered that. Oh, and I remembered _this_.” 

He had just tapped a few times on Carrie’s story and now it was featuring Luke. The shaggy haired boy looked on in horror watching himself on the screen. 

“Oh no. Was I-?”

“Jumping onto tables singing ‘Mamma Mia’? Yeah, buddy. You were,” 

“God, please turn it off,” Alex did, and Luke finally had enough sense to shed the ridiculous shawl off his body. 

He thought the social media thing was gonna give him some more clarity on the situation, but he was left feeling more confused than ever. Where was Reggie? Nick? Flynn? He wished he had his phone on him, so he could help find some evidence like what Alex was doing. 

He was dying to find out because obviously something happened that got him to start drinking again. What was it?

Then, all of the sudden, the doors burst open. The boys looked up, hoping to see Reggie but instead it was one furious Flynn. She was still wearing what she had been wearing at the party but had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, ready for action. 

“You!” her eyes were trained on Luke. She marched up to him, and slapped him hard across the face. 

“Hey hey hey!” Alex exclaimed, springing into action, putting some distance between his two friends. 

Luke’s hand clutched at the sore spot on his cheek, “What the hell, Flynn?” he demanded. 

“You’re one piece of work, Patterson,” she said through gritted teeth, “the stunts you pulled last night!” 

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” he started cowering again behind Alex when Flynn raised her hand at him again. 

“The dude’s hungover, he really has no idea what happened!” 

That only softened the harsh glare the young girl was shooting at him just a tad, “Of course. Pretty convenient, right when you should be cleaning up the mess you made.” 

“Just tell me what’s going on?!” Luke cried out, just so tired of having things not spelled out for him. He wasn’t going to start remembering anytime soon, especially if he was being prodded on with violence. 

“Well let’s see. 1- Bobby’s out for revenge. 2- We lost the van, and 3-” Flynn sighed, as if she was saving the worst for last. 

“Flynn?” 

She crossed her arms, fuming, “ _Why_ did you think it’d be a good idea to kiss Julie while she was still broken up about Nick? Huh, Luke?”

Luke and Alex gaped at Flynn. 

_“Excuse me?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooh boi. Hopefully this doesn't seem like it came out of left field. I tried to hint that Luke was a party boi throughout a few chapters and tried to allude that there was gonna be alcohol involved in this next part. Hopefully you're not put off by that, but I thought this would be a fun way to tell the story... 
> 
> Anyways, the furry shawl that Luke was wearing was definitely the one Carrie was wearing at the school dance on the show. Just thought it would be funny to put him in it. 
> 
> Gave you a glimpse of what happened, the next chapter, Luke's gonna get the full rundown. 
> 
> The chapter is named after an album by 'The Black Kids' although spelled differently...


	10. Putting the Pieces Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Luke was coming to terms to what happened the night before, a new discovery causes him and the others to question everything they knew about the party...

Chapter 10 'Putting the Pieces Together'

_“I kissed Julie?!”_

Luke shut his eyes and tried to pick apart his brain to search for any memory of him doing _that_. If he had kissed Julie he would have remembered. Like would have definitely remember that. He smacked his lips together, as if he could somehow try to see if there were remnants of her taste still there- but he wouldn’t know. He had only imagined what she would have tasted like… 

He even went as far as to press a finger to his own lips, as if he could try to recreate the pressure of a kiss to maybe trigger something. 

Alex had to shake him out of it. He must have been staring dumbly out into the distance. 

Flynn was still pissed at him. She crossed her arms, “I saw you! I saw you make a move on her and she slapped you!” 

_“What?”_ Luke whispered. How could he? How could he do that to her? Literally the same night that she had been planning to tell Nick how she felt about him. Must have been right after Nick had to reject her- he could only speculate. 

What a stupid move! Like downright disrespectful, he couldn’t believe he had done something like that. He could never forgive himself… he could see why Julie didn’t want to talk to him.

“Wait, wait,” Alex turned to Flynn, “Did _you_ have anything to drink last night?” 

Flynn looked appalled, “Are you trying to say that I’m making this up? I know what I saw!” 

“But how come you’re still in last night’s clothes and got morning breath at-” he checked his phone, “-2 in the afternoon? That’s classic hangover fashion if I don’t say so myself.” 

“I crashed in Julie’s room. I had to take her home after that idiot-” she gestured at Luke, who was still reeling from his actions last night, “laid one on her! I drove us because I didn’t drink, unlike the rest of you. Just slept in this outfit because I was tired, alright? And besides, morning breath in the afternoon, that’s being a teenager, stupid.” 

“You spent the night at Julie’s? How is she?” Luke had to know. 

“She’s fine now. She’s still sleeping. Couldn’t really get anything from her last night. Must have shaken her up.” 

Luke his face in his hands. That was exactly what he didn’t want to hear. Of course, especially if Julie had been sober and he had been intoxicated- that would have made the situation a whole lot worse. 

God. He didn’t think Julie had ever seen him get drunk before, she had moved here a good while after he had put his partying days behind him. Did he become this totally different person that she didn’t recognize? Did he scare her? 

Alex hummed in curiosity, “Wait, ‘the rest of you’,” he called back to Flynn’s words, “who else drank last night?” 

Flynn sucked in her bottom lip, thinking and rattling off the names with each count of her fingers, “Shouldn't you know? You- obviously, and you-” she nodded at Luke, who was still sheepish, “Nick, Reggie- he was probably the drunkest out of all y’all. And I think Julie had some to drink.” 

Julie drank? Luke thought in disbelief. The girl hated alcohol. She had tried a sip of her dad’s beer once and nearly yakked. 

But last night was filled with a lot of surprises, apparently. 

“You said something about Bobby?” That didn’t make sense. How was Bobby involved in all of this? From what he remembered- and he did remember _some_ stuff- the guy wasn’t on the BandSlam lineup. 

At the mention of Bobby, the fire in Flynn’s eyes began to simmer. She looked down, “Okay… I honestly don’t know what’s up with Bobby but that’s what Reggie tried to text me about, that and the van, before I blocked him.” 

Luke and Alex gave her a quizzical look.

“Hey! I was pissed! Was ready to cut all ties with y’all because Julie got hurt by one of you.” she held her hands up in defense. 

“You really are ride-or-die, aren’t you?” Alex commented before going back onto Snapchat.

“If you didn’t know much about either, then why did you make it sound like it’s my fault?” Luke asked

“It probably was! You were doing some crazy things last night, Meryl Streep!” Flynn groaned, “And I’m just really stressed. Like I can’t be both friend and manager right now.” 

Luke didn’t blame Flynn. Not for a second. Of course, he could do without the slap, but if what she said was right and he had hurt Julie, then he honestly deserved way more slaps. And then there was the fact that she was their manager- the idea of a former bandmate swearing vengeance and their band van gone was just icing on the cake for her. She didn’t have the full details and she was already so frazzled. 

“The thing is,” Alex drew their attention to him, “my own memory is a bit hazy so I’m not sure who was drunk. Or who was there last night so I don’t know whose stories to check. Don’t really follow a lot of people. The other Dirty Candy girls didn’t post anything. Weird. Maybe we can get more from Carrie’s story again.” 

All of three of them huddled around Alex’s phone as they went through the stories again, “Selfie, the girls, then them pulling up to the party-” 

“Wait!” Luke stopped him from going any further. It was a video of Carrie and the rest of Dirty Candy seated outside at a table. The phone pans around to reveal a large backyard area where many tables were set. It looked more like a dinner party than the kind of rager where one could get really hammered. 

Then Luke recalled the later footage of him dancing on top of tables at an outdoor setting, but it did not look like anything in this current video, “The place looks different than the video of me singing ‘Mamma Mia’.” 

Flynn gave him a strange look, “Uh… yeah. It was different because you didn’t get drunk until way later. Until the afterparty.” 

“The afterparty?” Luke and Alex chorused together for the second time that day. 

“Miss Carrie thought the party was boring so she decided to throw one at hers afterwards,” 

“She lives in Malibu too!” Alex exclaimed. He sort of followed up on Dirty Candy and was privy to such information. He had told the guys it was because his sister loved them, but Luke was sure that no one bought that excuse. 

“Why would we go to Carrie’s house?” Then for a split second, it seemed both Flynn and Alex were trying their best to not make eye contact with him. 

Luke went to Alex, “Is that a part you remember?” 

“Well… uh, I mean-” 

“He was getting chummy with the girls from Dirty Candy!” Flynn blurted out, and Luke could tell that she was just trying to cover up some secret of her own. 

“Hey!” Alex got all defensive, “I wasn’t getting all chummy with them. Well, I mean… they showed me some moves at the party. I showed them mine… we got to talking. And they’re pretty cool-” Luke shot him an expression that read ‘seriously?'.

“I went along with them having no idea that it was an afterparty at Carrie’s! You guys freaked and looked for me and that was how you ended up there.” 

That explained it. They had momentarily lost their drummer to a pop group. 

But there was still a lot to unpack about that night. He thought Flynn could help fill them in, but there was still the mess about the van, and Bobby that they needed to figure out. 

“We need to find Reggie, Willie, and Nick,” he declared before setting off to find another shirt. They had some stuff lying around here and he didn’t want to get around with his clothes clinging to his body. 

“No way. Nuh-uh. I’m not helping you find Nick. I’m mad at him too!” Flynn frowned, “Be leading Julie on and breaking her heart at the party. Some guy, right?” 

Okay, so that part for sure happened. But he had a feeling that there was something more to this night then what their current evidence was telling them. 

“Um, guys,” Alex blanched at something he read off his phone. He had been going through Reggie’s earlier messages, “We do need to get Nick.” 

“How come?” 

Alex handed Luke the phone, “he’s at the police station.”

* * *

_The party at the festival coordinator’s party had turned out to be a bust, which Luke was happy about. He had been concerned at first, but it made sense that if the majority of the bands in BandSlam were minors, they wouldn’t be so keen on making alcohol and other crazy activities available._

_It had been more of a fancier setting than what they had expected, it had been mostly just meeting with important people, getting to know the other performers. It had been relatively low-stakes since Flynn was able to talk circles around some of the other management present._

_But it still had been one big glorified picnic._

_They were just about ready to head to their perspective vehicles when the night had winded down at a solid 10 pm, the boys in the van and the girls in Flynn’s car, when they realized that their favorite blonde drummer had disappeared amongst the throng of people exiting the house._

_That was what brought them to some houses down. They had followed a crowd of people- a lot of the other bands- that were walking down the street making a beeline for another mansion._

_“Oh no,” He heard Nick say with dread as they came up on the property, “it’s Carrie’s house.”_

_The whole group groaned._

_They had managed to avoid running into the aforementioned girl and her gaggle of dancers the whole night, well… now that Luke thought about it, Alex might have struck up a conversation with one of the girls- Kayla._

_There was much debate whether or not they should just go into what it looked to be the start of a rowdy, high school party. They all did not care for Carrie at all… but they gotta admit, there could be some cool stuff to do in there. And besides, they had to get Alex._

_Willie was the first one to head in, not caring if he was walking into the lion’s den, he needed to find Alex. Then, went Flynn which surprised Luke because she was the one who probably hated Carrie the most. And with her entrance, Julie had no choice but to follow._

_It was him, Nick and Reggie outside. Luke was all up for getting in and finding Alex, but at that moment, they watched a bunch of guys wheel in kegs of alcohol into the house._

_Luke backed up towards the street. He just could not be here right now. This was a bad idea, “I’m just gonna wait in the van. Reg?”_

_They all walked over to the van so Reggie could unlock it for him. Luke slid into the driver’s seat, pulling out his journal that he had tucked in the passenger seat- might as well jot some song ideas while he waited for everyone else to be done._

_He rolled down the window and leaned out. Nick was leaning against the door, staring at Carrie’s house out in the distance._

_“You know you could just hunker down in here with me?” Luke offered. He couldn’t guarantee he was going to be good company because he would just get too caught up with writing songs to make stimulating conversation._

_Nick sighed. He obviously didn’t plan on encountering his past so soon, but he ended up declining._

_“Sounds so tempting, but I did promise someone that I was going to be their wingman,” he gave a wry smile. The two stared at the bassist, who had been waiting a little ways away, trying to wave at girls who passed him on the way to the party._

_“Yeah… he’s gonna need serious help,” They both chuckled, sharing such fondness for their friend._

_“And besides, I think I’ll need to have that talk with Julie soon,”_

_Luke bowed his head at that, “Right. That too.” Another good reason to not attend the party right then. He didn’t want to see the look on Julie’s face when Nick finally had the talk with Julie. The guy had been trying to get her alone all night so he could break the news, but she kept getting passed around by different agents and promoters that he never had a chance._

_Now he was gonna have to do it at his ex-girlfriend’s house… not exactly the best venue for a conversation as delicate as this._

_It seemed like Nick already knew that, already cringing._

_“Let’s just hope for the best then. I’ll catch you later, Luke,” Nick said as he walked away, joining Reggie. Luke couldn’t help but smile at the two as they skipped down, arm in arm like they were in a freakin’ musical._

_What total dorks._

_Hopefully something good could come out of tonight..._

* * *

Luke blinked repeatedly, now some sort of aspect of the night was starting to coming back to him as they rode in Flynn’s car down to the station. 

Although she was still mad at both him and Nick at the moment, Luke knew that there was a part of her that still cared about them. She probably wanted to make sure that Nick was okay. Or maybe she wanted the chance to give him a good talking to after what he had done to Julie. 

At least they got a ride there. 

Once they arrived, they rushed into the bullpen and were surprised to find Reggie there, arguing with the officer at a desk. And just smidge to the right, there seated Nick, handcuffed to the desk, looking as if he hadn’t slept a wink. 

“Just let him go. His parents are obviously not gonna come by and let him out soon!” 

“Then he’s gonna be here for longer,” the officer said, his eyes not straying from the dossier in front of him, “that’s the policy. You should know that. You were in here just this morning.” 

“We were booked together, so why shouldn’t we be bailed out together!” He clapped Nick on the shoulder, “We’re gonna get you out, buddy. I promise.” 

“Reggie! Nick!” they all called out to them. The boys looked up, signs of relief shown in their expressions. 

The bassist went straight for them, hugging all of them, even Flynn who had finally stopped being angry at the boys. 

“Where did you go? We were trying to find you, man!” Reggie said to Luke. 

He dismissed the question, “Dude, forget me. _You got arrested?_ ” 

“Technically no. Since we’re minors and everything,” 

Then Reggie proceeded to tell them that when the van had gotten stolen, him, Nick, Alex, and Willie were all inside a 7-Eleven. Willie had been driving since he didn’t drink- he was a tad bit high though he whispered- but Luke wished he had left that part out. They were in a police station for god’s sake. 

“We only had cash on us and so we went inside. We got snacks, gonna pay for everything when it happened. We freaked-” he pointed at Alex’s shirt, “that would have been my Cherry Slurpee. Sorry.” 

“It was your van being taken, Reggie. Of course, you wouldn’t react well,” 

“So, my first instinct was to run, right? We chased after the van, but it was then we realized-” 

“You didn’t pay,” Flynn finished for him, “You took the snacks and everything with you when you ran, didn’t you?” she could sense their stupid from a mile away.

Reggie winced, “Not our proudest moment. Even worse that there were some cop cars there getting gas too…” 

Luke wanted to facepalm so hard right then, but he really had no room to judge. Since he had made some serious mistakes the night before too. 

“I remember what happened now,” Alex spoke up, “We were running, the cops were chasing us so we split up. The goal was to get to Julie’s. To get to the studio because it wasn’t too far… I’m guessing me and Willie were the only ones that got away.” 

Reggie looked back at Nick, who waved at all of them sluggishly, “You know that guy’s a total athlete, right? Able to outrun them easily. But he stuck by me, even when I was so obviously slowing us down.” 

Nick really was something, Luke thought. He had noticed that he and Reggie had this sort of bond now, not really sure when it started but it didn’t surprise him that he would stay by Reggie’s side the whole night… 

“We were here all night, “ Reggie continued, “But then my parents came back from their trip early just to spring me out. They grounded me for who knows how long, and when I got home I found a wild Willie camping out in my bathroom!” 

“Willie!” Alex grabbed Reggie by the shoulders, “Where is he?” 

“Probably at the studio by now. I think he had come back in the early morning to grab his board that he left at mine before we all went to the party. We snuck out of the house not too long ago. He was coming back for you,”

“We meet up back there then. Reggie, I need to figure out what happened last night. I don’t remember anything and I need to remember if I’m gonna need to fix this,” Luke said.

“We will. But as soon as we get Nick out. We don’t leave a man behind!” 

Flynn had to butt in, just to make sure that they needed a dose of reality for a second,

“But how are we going to be able to convince this cop to turn him loose? None of us are 18 or his guardians.”

“Well,” Alex patted down his hair and attempted to smooth out his messy shirt, “Reggie, you’ve been known to sound _pretty_ intense. I think you’re gonna wanna let someone with a softer touch handle this. Ok? Watch.”

He cruised to the officer at his desk, he smiled politely, then leaning forward he said, very loudly, _“Can you let my friend go?!”_

The officer’s head snapped up, “I thought I told your buddy here that-” he stopped mid-sentence. He stared at Alex, then did a double take at Reggie who he had been talking to before, and then finally at Luke, “Wait, I know you.” 

Alex furrowed his eyebrows, “You do?” 

“You’re Sunset Curve, aren’t you?” The officer’s neutral expression turned into one of glee upon recognizing the band. 

“Seriously, he didn’t realize it when it was just me?” Reggie huffed, leaving Nick to pat him on the back comfortingly, with the hand not cuffed to the desk. 

Luke smiled, astonished, “You… you a fan?” 

The officer set his papers down, “Me and my daughter. We went to go see you guys perform last week. And lemme tell ya, you boys brought the house down. And that gal too. She sure can sing!”

_She sure can sing..._

Then Luke had the very distressing thought of whether or not Julie was ever going to perform with them ever again. After what he did last night. The band was just taking off, their band, and it was over already. He had totally jeopardized making music with Julie ever again… 

Ugh. He needed to keep such thoughts out. There was already a lot going on in his head. It still felt like he had banged it against every surface imaginable. 

“Wow. That’s so cool to hear,” Flynn chimed in, walking over now, “You don’t happen to know of a little thing called BandSlam, do you?”

The officer scoffed, “Are you kidding? That’s all my daughter talks about. But it’s all sold out, we couldn’t get any tickets.”

Luke could tell by the mischievous glint in Flynn’s eyes what was gonna happen next. 

“Let’s say we change that…” 

* * *

“Did we really just bribe a police officer?” Reggie howled in laughter while squished in between Alex and Nick in the backseat. 

Luke couldn’t believe their luck that the one officer assigned to their case just happened to be a fan. Like what were the chances? And that they were able to promise them tickets to BandSlam if they let Nick go, they had to lie and say that he was a roadie- very integral to the show and all.. 

“Thanks guys,” Nick was still rubbing the cuff marks on his wrist, “You didn’t have to come back for me. My parents were gonna come for me eventually.” 

“You’re not off the hook yet,” Flynn called from the driver’s seat, “You still need to answer for what you did to Julie.” 

Reggie seemed to be the only one out of the loop for this one, “What are you talking about?” 

“I had to tell her, Flynn!” Nick defended, “I knew she was going to try and ask me out last night. It wouldn’t be fair to her.” 

“Wait? You don’t like Julie?” the bassist asked for clarification after putting the puzzle together. 

Nick shook his head.

“Interesting…” 

Luke wondered what kind of tone Reggie took on just now, but he was too busy trying to come to Nick’s defense. 

“I didn’t like it when he told me this either-” he began but Flynn was quick to cut him off. 

“Oh really? No, I bet you were so happy that you could swoop in now and think you can get with Julie just because Nick’s not interested. You just had to kiss her at Carrie’s party, don’t you? It hadn’t been a full day yet. Like seriously?” 

“Wait, what?” Nick and Reggie shouted. 

“Yeah,” Luke rubbed his temples and hissed in pain, accidentally brushing against the edge of his black eye. He didn’t feel like looking to see their reactions. He could barely stomach the shame without having his friends see him the way he saw himself- a freakin’ lowlife of a human being. 

“You really don’t remember anything?” Nick’s words mirrored Rose’s words from earlier. 

He was getting really frustrated at being asked that, “Yes, how many times do I need to tell you guys!” 

“You seriously thought _that_ was what happened?” 

Everyone in the car turned over Nick’s words in their heads. What the hell did he mean by _that_? 

Flynn, without warning, turned into a residential street and parked the car by the curb. She and Luke whirled around in their seats to stare at Nick, Alex angled his body so that he could face him too, wanting answers as well. It seemed that only he and Reggie had some vague idea what was going on.

“Explain,” 

Nick squirmed a little under everyone’s scrutiny, Luke felt bad, but the guy obviously knew something that they didn’t. 

“Look… ,” he started, “Luke didn’t kiss Julie last night,” 

The car was dead silent. 

Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He had been walking around thinking that he had done something untoward at Julie, but it turned out that it didn’t happen. He was made to feel incredibly guilty for something that he didn’t do. He shifted his head to glare at Flynn, accusingly. 

“ _You_ said that I did!” 

“I thought it was you!” Flynn yelled back at him, “I was at the stairs and I saw you guys in the hallway!”

“But you just said you _thought_ -”

“Guys!” Alex’s voice broke through the din. He then addressed Nick, “So if Luke didn’t then who did?” 

Then it was Reggie’s turn to speak. Luke’s stomach churned at the sight of the grimace on his friend’s face. 

“Flynn… you didn’t read all my messages, did you?” 

Luke’s eyes widened, the full weight of Reggie’s words hitting him full force. 

_No way in hell_...

* * *

_Luke heard a tapping against the side of the van. He wasn’t sure how long he had been holed up in the vehicle while Carrie’s party raged on, he had just been so caught up with the progress of this one song that he must have lost track of time._

_He looked up from his book and saw a familiar face waving at him from outside._

_“Bobby?”_

_The jet-black haired boy grinned at him, “Hey buddy. Long time no see.”_

_Luke hadn’t spoken to their former rhythm guitarist since the less than amicable break up, since when he and the others kicked him out. He tossed his journal to the side and got out of the van._

_“Uh.. hey. What are you doing here?”_

_Bobby’s hands were shoved into his pockets and he ticked his head at house, “My cousin is apparently throwing the biggest party of the summer.”_

_“Oh yeah, forgot you guys were related,” Bobby and Carrie were part of the same family? Yeah, it stumped Luke too when he first found out. They didn’t even seem to be from the same planet._

_His former friend chuckled, “I’d like to forget that too. Now,” he gestured to the van, “why aren’t you in there. Isn’t that where the others are?”_

_Luke stayed silent. Bobby didn’t need to ask. He knew all about him refraining from going to parties, especially ones that seemed to overflow with cheap booze and bad decisions- both of which he had experienced plenty. And Bobby had been front row along with the other guys to this downward spiral._

_But still Bobby waited for an answer.._

_“I, uh, need to make sure everyone gets home safe,”_

_The other guy clicked his tongue, “Never thought I’d see the day that Luke Patterson becomes the designated driver. I mean, we used to have some killer times at one of these things.”_

_Luke shrugged, “I guess.”_

_The fallout of his drunken activities had always been drilled into his memory as a way to stave off any interest in going to parties. But then again, if he sifted through some of the bad parts, like defacement of public property for instance, he would find those times when he and the guys were rolling around on the grass laughing their heads off with a can of spray paint in their hands…_

_“Hey listen, let’s just pop in for a bit. Say hi to the guys. Say hi to Julie. It’d be fun,” he suggested._

_“I don’t know Bobby-”_

_“I mean, only if you want to of course. But don’t you think it’s better to watch out for your friends, if you’re right there with them?”_

_He did have a good point._

_He honestly didn’t know what to make of Bobby right now. He didn’t think that they were gonna be remotely civil to each other after their explosive parting of the ways. He eyed him up and down, he seemed pretty chill and the suggestion was innocent enough._

_Yet, his gut was telling him not to trust the guy._

_But, his words rang true. Best way to keep an eye on his friends was if he was there with them, especially if Bobby was also gonna be there._

_Bobby was the one he needed to keep his eye on really._

_Luke rolled up the sleeves of his plaid flannel, “Fine, let’s go.”_

_“Ayyy. There he is. Good ol’ Luke,” He clapped him on the back and the two old friends sauntered across the street._

_Once the door opened and they were let in, Luke could have sworn he heard Bobby say something under his breath, something along the lines of:_

_“This is gonna be good…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah.... that happened
> 
> Sorry if this took a turn with the whole police station thing. I was really trying to plan out what exactly happened at the party because so many things happened and so many twists to watch out for and how I wanted them to be revealed... 
> 
> And I don' think I mentioned this in the last chapter but the drunk Luke jumping up and singing 'Mamma Mia' was definitely inspired by the the video of Charlie singing the same song on set. 
> 
> As you can see, this whole party thing is gonna draw out for multiple chapters... we have yet to find out how Luke ended up in a pool, whose shades he was wearing, where his phone ended up, and who gave him the black eye...
> 
> Bear with me please!


	11. Putting the Pieces Together Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Reggie tell the group what they know, and they soon realize that it might not have been Bobby's fault alone...

Chapter 11 ‘Putting the Pieces Together (Part II)’

Luke’s knuckles grew a scary shade of white from how hard he was gripping the passenger seat. If he clenched his fingers around it even more then the leather would buckle and crack. It was all he could do to repress the great need to yell. He settled for tightening his jaw and the full on body tremors- as if that had put his friends more at ease. 

“Luke?” Reggie’s tone was delicate, as if he was trying to reason with the bomb that was about to go off. No one else dared to say anything to him. 

He shut his eyes, he could feel everything tightening- his face, his shoulders, the knot in his stomach. For a moment the hammering pain of his headache dulled out in favor of a sudden lightheaded-ness. A fury that he had not known before was taking hold of him. It was building, rising, inside him, it was gonna shoot out of him at any moment. 

He opened his mouth, ready to snarl and cry, to let out all of his rage- but he soon realized that it wasn’t rage he needed to let out. 

Eyes wide and cheeks puffing up, he launched the door open and began puking his guts out onto the street. 

_ “Woah!”  _ He could hear Alex cry out in surprise. Luke could just imagine him, cowering against the corner of the car while Reggie would veer his eyes away from the gross sight. 

He felt a hand rub his back as he emptied out the contents of his stomach on the curb. Most likely Flynn because she was the closest. 

Luke spat out the last of it after a minute of vomiting. He sniffled, wiping his mouth with his shirt before shutting the door. 

Well, he had been wondering when last night's alcohol was going to catch up with him. 

“Are you okay?” Nick asked, concerned. Meanwhile, Flynn was searching for any water she had in the car, she procured a bottle from her seat pocket and handed it to him. 

He went ahead and chugged the entire bottle. Once he was finished, he tossed it out of the window. 

_ “Drive,” _ he ordered. 

“Woah, hold it Luke we are not going anywhere-” 

_ “Take us to Bobby’s right now!”  _

Flynn didn’t flinch at Luke’s sudden sharp tone. She pushed Luke back down into his seat, “Don’t you dare! We don’t even have the full story yet!” 

“But it’s true! Isn’t it?” he looked back at Nick and Reggie. Nick refused to meet his gaze, but he nodded. 

But Bobby needed to pay. Luke swore that when he got his hands on him he was gonna regret ever doing that to Julie. Now without the threat of being kicked out of studio space hanging over his head, there was nothing stopping him from fully decking the guy. 

“Look, I wanna give the guy a piece of my mind too. But we need to get to the studio! We can’t have you run off and do something you’d regret!” Flynn tried reasoning with him, “I thought I knew what happened, but I guess we need to figure out exactly what happened last night before going in there guns blazing!” 

“That’s exactly what  _ you _ did when you slapped me earlier!” 

Flynn sighed, “And now I regret it… I jumped the gun too soon before getting all the information. See?” 

“And it’s not like you didn’t get your two cents in last night,” Reggie brought up. 

“What?” Luke then remembered Alex’s words from earlier.

_ You took one helluva beating last night _

“Did you know?” he asked Alex. 

The blonde shook his head vehemently, “I didn’t remember Bobby. I just remember…. A lot of punching. I think I was involved too?” 

“We all were,” Nick said, “But Luke, we’ll show you proof once we go to the studio. Please?” 

Luke wanted so badly to go to Bobby’s… to just give him hell. But he saw the looks on his friends’ faces. They were worried for him, almost scared of him from how much they are begging to be taken to the studio, their safe haven. It brought him back to his earlier fear about having turned into this monster during his drunken stupor, having turned into something that had frightened Julie into not wanting anything to do with him. 

But then he was plagued with a new question: if he didn’t kiss Julie while he was drunk… then why didn’t she want to see him? Now, after showing his burning desire to put Bobby’s head on a pike, that monster theory might not be so far from the truth… 

Maybe he had given Bobby hell last night and Julie saw? Watching your friend beating someone up on your behalf was not as virtuous as some people thought. 

The thing was, he was sober now. He was fully aware of his choices and he needed to seek the right ones. From what he knew, he needed to make up for his behavior still from last night. 

He was cooling down, slowly. But was doing it nonetheless. He blew out a breath to steady himself further. 

Luke went and faced forward, buckling his seatbelt, “Flynn, can we go to the studio? Please?” 

* * *

They made it to the studio about 5 minutes later, the ride having gone on in silence. 

Quietly, they entered the side gate of Julie’s house. They felt slightly weird for being on the premises since Julie was still asleep and may still be upset with Luke, but there was nowhere else they could go. It was their place. 

They opened the doors and discovered Willie laying on the floor, bored out of his mind. The sound of their return, jolted him to his feet. 

“Alex!” He ran up and pulled the drummer into a tight embrace, “So so sorry, Hot Dog. Didn’t mean to be gone for so long. Just went to grab my board but I fell asleep-” 

“Stop talking,” Alex’s words were stifled by Willie’s shoulder, “I’m just… so happy to see you.” They parted and Luke could see now that Willie’s hair had been braided in random sections, with a few of them sporting charms and beads. It looked like he had been ambushed by a girls’ sleepover party. 

Willie then took notice of Luke and approached him, “Look man, I’m so sorry again. I’m glad you’re ok.” 

Luke was confused, “What do you have to be sorry for?” 

Alex laid a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “Um… we need to go over last night, Willie.” 

Alex then went to explain to Willie that Luke didn’t remember anything from the party or the afterparty, and that they had just found out what Bobby had done, or might have done. 

Then Reggie summoned everyone to the sitting area, as he took out his phone. Luke, and Alex went for the couch, sitting on either side of Reggie. Flynn settled for leaning against the wall while Willie sat at Alex’s feet, and Nick at Luke’s. 

Reggie leaned over and stretched out his arms so that everyone could watch his screen. 

He pulled up a group selfie that they had taken at some point in the night, at Carrie’s. This must have been after Bobby had convinced Luke to come because there he was squeezed in between Julie and Reggie on one of the long benches by Carrie’s pool. Everyone from their group was all there and they all had their arms outstretched, making silly faces at the camera.

He could tell from his eyes in the picture that he had not gotten drunk yet. 

“This was before we all went our separate ways for the party,” Nick described, “Closer till 11.” 

“Me and Alex were in the loft,” Willie accounted, “With Kayla and the other girls from Dirty Candy.” 

“Oh….” Alex’s fingers touched at the blue streaks in his hair, “Oh yeah, they did our hair, didn’t they Willie?” 

“There’s just something so relaxing about someone doing your hair for you. Although I thought the purple would have you suit you better,” the skater winked at him. 

Nick shifted slightly, “I, uh… pulled Julie aside not too long after this picture was taken. And we had our talk.” 

Luke nodded. He had almost asked just now how it went, but he was almost too scared to find out. Obviously, Julie would have been upset… he didn’t want to know the details. But Nick just let out a deep sigh, so he assumed that it had gone as well as expected. 

“Where were you Flynn?” Reggie questioned the girl who had been oddly quiet while they hashed out their whereabouts, “I didn’t remember seeing you a lot throughout the party.” 

“Uh… I was around,” she stated after a pause, “I went around a lot, like a lot, during the party,” 

Everyone turned to her, suddenly suspicious. 

“Uh… let’s just figure out the rest of the night, right?” Luke wanted to continue with this piecing together of events, “But did anyone know what happened to me after the picture?” 

“We saw some guy take you back into the house,” Willie recalled. 

“It was Bobby,” Reggie clarified, “Our old bandmate.” 

“Something must have happened because you came back later, already tipsy.” 

Luke raked his hands through his damp hair… he was… beginning to remember some of it now. 

* * *

_ He was inside the living room, where much of Carrie’s dad’s awards and symbols of his rockstar accomplishments were splayed out all over the walls. Luke had nearly bumped into one of Trevor Wilson’s expensive guitars trying to follow Bobby.  _

_ Bobby had found him right after they had taken their selfie and split up.  _

_ Reggie had notified them all that he was off to find the bathroom. Flynn had said something similar but went in the opposite direction as Reggie. It was at then that Kayla had pushed past some people to get to their group and she had waved over Alex. He was off, but not without grabbing Willie along and introducing him to his new friend.  _

_ He had been called away from Julie and Nick by Bobby, who said that he needed help with something inside.  _

_ Pushing past the crowd of dancing teenagers, he caught his old bandmate at a table, one of the many tall tables that had been set up for this impromptu party. There several red cups filled to the brim with alcohol on the table.  _

_ “What is it you need help with?”  _

_ Bobby picked up one of the cups and held it out to Luke, “I need you to help me finish this round.”  _

_ “What? Are you crazy?” he growled, swatting the drink away.  _

_ “Come on, Luke. It’s been what, like a year?” Bobby said, disregarding his apprehension, “I don’t think one drink is gonna get you so far gone.”  _

_ “Dude!” Luke couldn’t believe Bobby, “You were there, man! The property damage? The community service-”  _

_ “Just because we messed up that one time, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be allowed to have a little fun, right?” Bobby took a sip, then something out in the room got caught in his radar, “Oooh, what do we have here?”  _

_ Luke traced his gaze and saw that he was referring to Julie and Nick. Nick was leading Julie along through the crowd before they headed upstairs and disappearing around the hallway.  _

_ The sight sent waves of sadness through him. He knew what was going to happen…  _

_ “You still hung up on her?” Bobby asked.  _

_ “What?” he shook his head, “No. Of course not.”  _

_ “Try telling that to your face,” Bobby kept offering Luke the same cup, “You and I both know that you need to take your mind off-” he raised his cup at the direction Julie went off in, “whatever that is.”  _

_ Luke eyed the cup warily, “Bobby…”  _

_ “You’ve been pining over the girl ever since you met her and for what? She’s passed you up for some jock.”  _

_ “Yeah but-”  _

_ “Can’t imagine being all buddy buddy with him, knowing that. Like flaunting it in your face. I could never be able to stomach it all. Just thinking about them, what they could be doing up there-”  _

_ Luke just had enough, “Shut the hell up, Bobby! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”  _

_ “Woah, woah. I don’t like seeing you so upset, man” the guy placated. Then he set his own drink down so he could take Luke’s hand and wrap it around the offered cup, “Just one drink, and you’ll feel better. Promise. Remember how good it felt?”  _

_ He didn’t want to admit this to anyone, least of all to Bobby, but he was such a wreck inside with this whole thing about Julie and Nick. Just knowing what was going down, not even warning Julie that her heart was going to be shattered in a million pieces- he hated being complicit in this. He couldn’t bear at the thought of having a hand in her suffering.  _

_ He just needed… needed to get rid of all those heavy stirrings of guilt, just needed to forget for a while… maybe…  _

_ The drink… as much as Luke hated to think so, started to look appealing. He started to remember how his troubles had slipped away whenever he drank- how smiling became just a tad bit easier when he did. All this pretending he had been doing, was taking a toll on him… He had been doing this for a year now…  _

_ Bobby nodded at him, as if to say, ‘It’s okay. Go for it’.  _

_ He hated himself when he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. He hated himself even more when he downed the whole thing.  _

_ Autopilot, he reached for another at the table, hoping just a little bit off the top was enough to make him hate himself less. He had come to find out that it took until the bottom of cup #3 that he stopped caring completely. He didn’t care that a year of sobriety couldn’t hold up against Bobby’s urging and his own guilt.  _

_ Throughout the whole thing, Luke watched Bobby growing more and more satisfied with each sip he took. He must have been getting close to that tipping point because he swore he saw Carrie pass them both, smirking at Luke but then nodded at Bobby, as if the two were silently communicating.  _

_ Luke didn’t have the same wits about him, so he didn’t question it. He was more concerned with the music and he started swaying to the beat. He could feel himself loosen up. The next thing he knew, he was in the thick of the crowd, his flannel discarded because he had been sweating so much.  _

_ He was bopping along to whatever Billboard Top 100 trash was bumping through the speaker, Bobby not too far behind him, and always with drinks in hand…. _

* * *

“He did it, guys.” Luke said suddenly, “He goaded me into drinking with him. And it just- went downhill from there.” 

He couldn’t believe how easy it was for Bobby to get in his head. By him bringing up Julie just sent him into a frenzy. A drinking frenzy… 

“What did you just remember, Luke?” Alex probed. 

“Bobby. The cups…” he scrunched his nose in confusion, “Carrie?  _ Carrie _ . You said I talked to her, Alex? When was this?” 

“When you were pretty far gone. Right after Mamma Mia. I came out of the den with the girls and saw her filming you for her story. Then she helped you down from the tables and talked with you.” 

Luke was struggling to picture that. Him, having a conversation with Carrie. What Alex said didn’t trigger any new memories, “Do you know what we talked about?” 

“Oh that, we can answer for you.” Reggie, still on his phone, went to Instagram, “I got so many notifications about it this morning.” 

“About what?” 

“You’ll see. There’s a reason you won’t see any of this on Carrie’s story.” 

Curious, Luke leaned in as Reggie pulled up someone’s story. It was shaky phone footage of him and Carrie, a crowd having gathered around them in the backyard. His friend turned the volume up and he realized the view was shaky because whoever was filming it was laughing so hard. 

In the video there was Luke, in his white sleeveless shirt arms, looking to be confronting Carrie about something. 

_ “Devil! You’re the devil in a p-pastel pink wiiiig!” _ he could be heard screeching. 

Flynn’s mouth hung open, “Oh my god.”

Luke was absolutely mortified of how cringy he sounded, and even more so when his drunk self began going on a rant on how Carrie treated everyone like dirt, even having the gall to name Nick, Julie, and Flynn in the list of people she had wronged. 

In the video, Carrie was trying to corral him, _ “Luke. You’re making a scene. Stop it!” _ she was trying to usher him inside,  _ “Come on, don’t leave her waiting!” _

He shrugged her off,  _ “No! I’m done listening to you. Done listening to your-”  _ drunk Luke let out a loud burp _ “-dumb songs!”  _

Then everyone watched, astounded, when drunk Luke, with some sort of fluidity and speed, had slipped off Carrie’s furry shawl and began parading around in it, singing tone-deaf versions of Dirty Candy songs, of course butchering the words because he didn’t know those lyrics sober. 

The laughs ringing out around the gathered crowd in the video were deafening at this point, and it got worse when drunk Luke, once again, had jumped onto the table and began mocking the Dirty Candy choreography- with a lot of hip shaking and shimmying, all exaggerated to entertain the partygoers.

_ “Make ‘em say 'wow'?”  _ Then he blew a raspberry while holding a thumbs down at Carrie, who was fuming. She let out a frustrated cry before running off into the house, utterly humiliated at her own party. 

Reggie ended the story. 

Luke refused to look at anyone in the eye. 

It took a while before anyone else said anything.

“I taught you that, didn’t I?” Alex said, referring to the dance moves Luke had been doing, “I’m so proud.” 

Luke groaned. There was a reason his mind must have wanted to keep that memory repressed… But at least that explained how he ended up with Carrie’s shawl this morning.

“What did she mean when she said ‘don’t keep her waiting?’” Willie picked out that little tidbit from the video. 

This time around, neither Nick or Reggie had any new information to offer, but suddenly Flynn’s phone started to ring. 

She went to go and silence it, but she let out an ‘eek’ once she saw her screen and tossed the phone onto the coffee table. The rest of them crowded the table, wanting to know who was calling, especially if it scared Flynn this bad. 

“Well…” Luke picked up the phone, reading the name of the person requesting to video call, “If we wanna know what Carrie meant. Might as well ask her ourselves.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this is part of a double update so this chapter and the next chapter were posted at the same time. Just letting you know. Hopefully you'll read this chapter before the next one. I'll probably leave a note at the top of the next one to warn you. 
> 
> This took me forever to write because so many things happened! 
> 
> Hopefully you'll all enjoy these chapters!


	12. Putting the Pieces Together Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally get the answers they needed... or did they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey letting you guys know that this chapter is part of a double update. If you guys checked this chapter first, I'm here to tell you that you should go to the previous chapter because that is also new and it would help you understand all that's going on in this one. Thanks!

Chapter 12 ‘Putting the Pieces Together (Part III)'

_“It’s Carrie?”_ Nick immediately backed away from the phone, everyone’s hands were up, refusing to pick up. 

“Nope. Nope,” Reggie bowed out, running for the opposite side of the room. 

Luke was the only one brave enough to swipe on the screen to answer the call. The screen shifted to a very angry Carrie already on a tirade before she could see who picked up. 

“Flynn, you freakin’ thief! I know it was you!” Then she stopped, realizing that it was Luke she was speaking to, “Oh, it’s you. Did you have fun last night at my party?” she sneered. 

“I did very much so,” Luke shot back, “Got your frock, do you want it back?” he smirked. 

“Puh-lease. That’s whatever,” she waved off, “Now put Flynn on. We need to talk.” 

Flynn was about to book it but Willie and Alex caught her and forced her to join Luke on the call. 

“Well… I’ve heard of summoning demons. Never been summoned by one before.” Flynn said while waving at the girl with little energy. 

“Cut the crap. My dad’s shades. I know you have them. Kayla told me she saw you snooping around our rooms last night.” 

The boys goggled at Flynn, who looked abashed from having been caught in the act. 

“That’s what you were doing last night!” Reggie laughed. 

“Do I have an audience or something?” Carrie rolled her eyes, “Okay, who’s listening? Show yourselves.” 

The boys took their own sweet time getting within view of the phone camera so Carrie could see who was there. 

“Oh, you’re there too, Nick,” she wore a sickly sweet smile when referring to her ex. Nick shook his head, not too easily charmed, “You haven’t wisened up yet still.” 

Nick cut to the chase, “What were you planning last night? I know you were involved in what happened to Julie!

“Geez, Nicky. Relax, I didn’t do anything to your little girlfriend,” The whole room didn’t buy that.

“Julie’s not my girlfriend, Carrie. We weren’t even dating!” 

Carrie’s composure stuttered, “Wait. What?” 

Nick nodded, and everyone else made murmurs of agreement. They witnessed Carrie’s brain break momentarily as she was trying to find her words. 

“Are you telling me that me and Bobby went through all of that trouble for nothing?” 

“Knew it! There was a plan!” Flynn called her out on it, “Might as well fess up, demon!” 

Carrie sighed, massaging her temples, “Cat’s out of the bag now. Alright… I’ll tell you, if only you get me those shades back. Dad’s been whining about it, claimed Paul McCartney gave him those shades years ago or something.” 

“Deal. But the thing is I tossed them at Luke before I dragged Julie out of the party,” 

“Oh!” Luke facepalmed. The sunglasses from this morning. They were still in the Hendersons pool, “Wait! I was wearing shades from _Paul McCartney??_ ” 

Carrie hummed, not amused, “Yeah. So, where are they? I need assurance.” 

“Hold on, one second,” 

Then Luke sent Reggie off to the Hendersons. They had been on the line with Carrie until Reggie came back 15 minutes later, soaking wet but with shades in hand. They lifted it over the camera. 

“That looks to be right,” Carrie confirmed. 

“Now tell us!” 

“Ugh. Fine,” Then she began her explanation, “Bobby and I got to talking recently about all the crap we’ve been through this summer. He got kicked out of your band, and I got dumped by Nicky over here. The more we talked, the more we realized we shared a common enemy…”

“Julie,” Nick deduced. 

“Exactly. I _thought_ Julie stole you from me. And Bobby blames Julie for getting kicked out of the band. So we came up with a plan to split you guys up and ruin the band.” 

Luke scoffed. He couldn’t believe that Bobby would stoop so low as to take vengeance on the band- and use Julie to do it. The more he was learning about last night, the stronger his need to punch Bobby square in the face became. 

“What were you planning to do?”

“Well… the plan was to get Luke drunk enough to get him to kiss Julie at the party. Bobby told me that you had a thing for her and we thought it was perfect. And we’ll have Nick come and walk in on you guys and boom- you’re broken up. Julie gets mad at you for ruining things with Nick, and she’ll leave the band.” 

Carrie seemed so business-like, hands folded on the table, just discussing with little to no remorse of her plans to manipulate a drunk person to kiss an unsuspecting girl. Okay, Luke decided, Carrie was getting a punch too. Although, he would reserve that right for Flynn. 

“But the plan got derailed, didn’t it?” Luke reminded her. 

The girl sighed, “You just had to ruin it. You were more focused on dancing and making a fool out of yourself that we couldn’t get you to go to Julie.” 

‘Come on, don’t leave her waiting’ made so much more sense now. 

Maybe he had been subconsciously trying to avoid Julie, giving her space and not wanting to deal with the aftermath of her conversation with Nick. He had to give his drunk self more credit, for not falling for Bobby and Carrie’s bait and trying to respectfully put distance between him and Julie. 

Him mentally applauding his drunk self stopped short when he realized that the plan didn’t stop just because he didn’t go through with it. Someone had kissed Julie. 

“So if you didn’t go to Julie…” Flynn began, 

“Bobby took it upon himself to finish the last leg of the plan,” Then Carrie disappeared under the table and brought out Luke’s flannel. Luke’s eyes widened. 

“So that’s why I thought it was you!” Flynn realized, “When I was upstairs, I recognized that ratty old shirt and I thought it was you who was kissing Julie! But I was too busy getting chased by Kayla to stop and confront him!” 

“It was never meant to fool Julie, she thought it was just Bobby coming up to talk to her. It was meant to confuse Nick from afar,” 

“But Carrie had me walk in on them. The kiss didn’t last for even a second,” Nick explained his side of the story. 

How come Luke felt that the latter part was supposed to reassure him? It didn’t. He didn’t want Bobby having his hands on Julie for even a fraction of a second. 

A couple beeps emitted from Carrie’s phone. She squinted at the screen and read her notifications, “Okay, as fun as this is. I got appointments to keep, like rehearsing for BandSlam? Good luck this weekend boys,” she laughed, “You’re gonna need it.” 

With that she ended the call. 

Luke gave Flynn back her phone and he collapsed onto the couch. He really didn’t it want it to be true… that Bobby kissed Julie just to get back at him and the guys. He just needed a moment to himself… to try and see this through, but Reggie knelt by his side. 

“Luke, there’s more.” 

“No more,” he mumbled, whining like a child. He didn’t want to hear anything else from that night. His hand went for his head- he swore his headache was getting worse and he was starting to get as dizzy as he was earlier when he had puked. 

“No… you’re gonna wanna know this,” Reggie had his phone out again, pulling up another story, this time on some partygoer’s Snapchat. 

He caved, “Fine.” 

“You know how we said we had proof that Bobby kissed Julie?” 

“Yeah?” 

“This is what happened after Nick saw it was Bobby,” 

Luke braced himself for what he might see on the screen. It opened to the foyer, at the base of the stairs, and it was happening- a full out brawl. 

Whoever was filming it kept trying to get closer, and when they did- everyone in the room could see it was Bobby and a couple of his friends squaring off against Nick, Reggie, Alex, and Willie. 

“I had chased him down the stairs right before this,” Nick gave context, “ I… sorta pushed him onto the ground. The guys hurried over and saw what happened. And when Bobby started calling over his pals…” 

Luke scowled, but he looked up at Alex who was watching the story as if he hadn’t lived it out in real life, “You seriously don’t remember this? And you didn’t know what was going on?” 

“Oh sorry, did we need a reason to beat up Bobby?” Alex said, “I just remember seeing Reggie getting pulled into it and I had to get in there.” 

“Fair enough,” Luke kept watching, wincing everytime a hard hit was thrown by or thrown at his friends. He wondered where he was throughout all of this. 

Then, he saw himself, a fuzzy purple dot darting around the scuffle, it appeared he had taken a pause to assess the damage but then hustled, nearly stumbling, up the stairs. Moments later, he was seen guiding a shaken up Julie down the stairs and shielding her from seeing the guys getting violent. 

They disappeared from the camera view, so they had no idea what had happened after he took her to safety. 

_“L-Luke”_ Julie’s frightened voice suddenly appeared in his subconscious. He was starting to remember now…

* * *

_He had pushed his way through the onlookers, with Julie under his arm, until he was able to tuck them both in the alcove behind the stairs, she was shaking in his hold, and she kept repeating his name, voice on the verge of tears._

_He didn’t know what was going on, he was barely lucid, but he just kept shushing her and rubbing her back, “Jules. Jules. S’okay. You’re okay.” he reassured, his words nearly slurring together. Luke hadn’t heard her get like this since the last time she had called him after a nightmare…_

“ _B-Bobby-”_

_“He’s… he’s…,” he dared to peer over at the fight, “taken care of. Yeah. Taken care of-”_

“ _L-Luke,” she buried her head into his shoulder, holding him tight against her as if she thought he would slip through her grasp._

_"I got you. Sh. Don't worry. I got you,"_

_“Julie!”_

_Then Flynn came onto the scene and wrenched Julie out of his hold, shooting daggers at him while tossing him a pair of shades that bounced off his head, it distracted him long enough for Flynn to put some considerable distance between them and Luke._

_“Get away from her!” she hissed and all of the sudden she whisked Julie out the door._

* * *

“Woah, man. You okay?” Nick’s voice brought him out of reminiscing. He didn’t realize that he had lost focus and stared off into space while the video of the fight played on. 

He recovered, trying to get the noise of Julie’s cries out of his system. It had been so harrowing to hear the first time.

He didn’t want to ever remember what that sounded like.

“Y-Yeah,” he blew out, not convincing anyone. 

Reggie cleared his throat, “Dude, I think you’re gonna wanna see this part.” 

His attention was back on the story. It was still on the fight between the boys, but this time Luke had returned, presumably after Flynn took Julie and ran. He could see how he ran headlong into the mess, trying to break it up. 

The camera zoomed in on Luke’s face, getting in between one of Bobby’s friends and Willie as they exchanged blows. But Willie, super engaged in the throes of the punches, he had accidentally swung and socked Luke in the face. 

Luke reached for his black-eye subconsciously. 

Willie saw this, “I told you I was sorry.” he reiterated. 

The guitarist let out an odd laugh, “It’s totally fine.” 

On screen, it appeared that the fight paused in light of Luke getting injured. He had been clutching his face where Willie had punched him and went to confront Bobby, poking his chest forcefully. They had exchanged words, harsh it seemed like but the person holding the camera wasn’t close enough for them to hear what it was. 

Luke had turned to walk away, trying to rally his boys to get going but then it looked like Bobby had to get the last word in. Whatever Bobby had said, it must have angered Luke because in a split second, he had whirled around and punched the guy square in the face before giving him a good kick in the chest. He hadn’t waited for Bobby to get up or for his friends to follow him.

Then he had ran for the door. 

That was where the story ended. 

Everyone had to take a moment to breathe after watching what was probably the climax of the night. 

It was silent for a while, just for everyone to process these events. Now, they all had a good understanding of what had gone down- but they were left to what to make of it. 

Luke was left feeling so confused, even though what happened that night had just been spelled out for him. On one hand, it had been so satisfying to watch himself land that punch on Bobby- it seemed like he already got what was coming to him. No need to pay a visit to his house later to rough him up… 

But on the other hand, there was the last piece of the puzzle that needed left solving: Why was Julie avoiding him? 

He had remembered comforting her after the incident, and she had seemed to wanted the opposite, she wanted Luke there with her. 

He had gone through a wide variety of theories as to why Julie didn’t want to see him as the day progressed. At first, he thought it was kissing her while he was drunk, but then they had found out quickly that it wasn’t the case. That it had been Bobby. 

And realizing that, the natural conclusion was that Julie had seen him beat up Bobby whilst defending her honor and that might have scared her off. But Flynn and Julie had left before they saw him punch Bobby, so that couldn’t have been it. 

He assumed that when he had ran out the door in the end, it was to go after Julie. 

Was it possible that something else happened between him walking out of Carrie’s House and him ending up in the Henderson's pool? 

“Guys,” he broke the silence. Everyone turned to him, “There’s more to last night. Me and Julie were on good terms before she left. So that means something happened between me and Julie after we left the party.”

He stood up from the couch, walking around the room, addressing each of his friends, “Does anybody have any idea what happened afterwards?” 

Flynn shrugged, “Well… I had to drop off Julie at her house, me and her mom made sure she was okay. But…” 

“But what?” 

“There was a window of time when I left to get stuff from my house and by the time I came back to hers,” 

“Do you know what could have possibly happened? Did you see me there?” Luke needed to know. He was just so close. He definitely could have gone to Julie’s and something must have happened there. 

“I… I,” Then Flynn shook her head. She had no idea. 

And as for the rest of his friends, they wouldn’t have had any idea of what could have happened to him from then on out. They all had asked him at one point during the day where he disappeared off to. He was the reason they had left the party, kickstarting the events that led up to the van's theft and Nick and Reggie getting nabbed by the cops. 

“I’m sorry,” Alex knew what was running through his head right now, “I’m afraid… you’re gonna have to figure that out on your own.” 


	13. Perfect Harmony?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke finally figures out what happened between him and Julie.

Chapter 13 'Perfect Harmony?'

They stayed in the studio, unsure what to do. None of them had anywhere they really needed to be. Maybe it was because right here, in their little piece of the world, they didn’t have to confront the aftermath of last night’s events. 

A lot of people probably had seen the stories, and who knew what important record execs or promoters saw any of it- the drunken dancing, the fighting, the crying. It didn’t look good for the band. By this point, they had all been too scared to check their phones, in case they received more bad news. 

Somewhat grateful for having lost his phone at one point during the night, he couldn’t look at any of it even if he wanted to. He could imagine all the texts and phone calls he got from his parents. He hadn’t been home in two days- they were probably worried sick… and were probably waiting to ground him for an eternity. 

He would go home, just to put their minds at ease. But he wasn’t finished with last night just yet. 

He had to remember that last leg of his journey, from Carrie’s to Julie’s to the Hendersons. He needed to get to the bottom of why Julie didn’t want to see him. It would be more difficult to solve this mystery if his parents were on his case, fussing over his disheveled state. 

And the kicker was, he didn’t understand how he couldn’t recall anything. 

He had Reggie replay that story, the one of the fight and him helping Julie. And he kept going back to his latest memory of trying to comfort her after what Bobby had done. Whatever drunken stupor he had gotten himself into had just begun to fade by that time because he had been so aware of the situation.

He had remembered his thoughts- coherent because it ‘get Julie’, ‘help Julie’, ‘help my friends’. The reason he had to break up the fight was to get his friends to safety but because he wanted Reggie to get them out of there and pursue Julie and Flynn. Like, that was not the logic of someone who had been super hammered. 

“Damn,” he seethed, cradling his head as another wave of nausea and dull pains swept through. 

Alex, who had been the closest to him, helped him recline on the couch, and got him an aspirin from his fanny pack. Luke swallowed it along with some warm orange juice that someone had left behind the day before. Not the best tasting thing at the moment, but that was all he got. 

“Do you need any ice? For your eye?” Willie’s concerned voice projected at him from somewhere in the room. Luke couldn’t tell, his eyes closed. 

“If that’s your sick way of flexing your strength…” he began jokingly, before getting interrupted by another dizzy spell. 

“Dude, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this bad ever.” Reggie assessed, resting the back of his hand on Luke’s forehead, “You sure we can’t call your folks-?”

“No! I’m… fine,” he kept trying to convince everyone. That didn’t stop Nick from going on his phone and searching up his side effects to see if they needed to bring him straight to the hospital. 

Ugh. They needed to stop babying him. 

Was it because they felt bad that they couldn’t help him further when it came to his memory? Well they shouldn’t. He should be the one feeling bad. It was because of his lack of self-control and his need to let loose that brought them here. 

If he hadn’t drank then he wouldn’t have caused a ruckus, he could have protected Julie from Bobby and Carrie. And if he hadn’t gone after Julie, then the guys wouldn’t have followed him and they wouldn’t have gotten the van stolen and Nick and Reggie wouldn’t have spent the night at the police station... 

And now, with whatever he did to Julie after running off- he had officially made things weird for their group, having Nick beat in that department. Sooner or later, the Molinas would have to kick them out, and he wasn’t sure how Julie would react to the rest of the band. 

Would she drop Alex and Reggie too because they were associated with him? Then, it would have been Luke’s fault if Alex and Reggie were no longer welcomed at the Molinas. He couldn’t bear to think what the guys would do if they didn’t have this place to go to when things got rough in their own homes, to not have Ray or Rose’s support, to not look out for Carlos anymore… 

He had the potential to completely obliterate their home lives, but they were still at his side, tending to him and downright codling him. He didn’t deserve this. He wanted them to stop. 

_You know what?_

Just to spite them, he brought himself up from the couch and hobbled over to his guitar on its stand. 

“Really, Luke?” Flynn’s tone ran exasperated, “You need rest.” 

“Nope. I need music.” 

“Is he always this stubborn?” Willie asked, perched up on the loft, legs dangling out. 

A resounding ‘yes’ rippled through the room. Luke scoffed when he sat down to play. Might as well. He may never know when he would ever play in this studio again. He didn’t care if the pounding in his head was overwhelming- it made for a good metronome he thought wryly. 

“Oh man,” Reggie’s stomach grumbled and he patted his belly, “None of us ate yet, have we?” 

“Do you not count the granola bar they gave us in the station?” Nick asked. 

Reggie shuddered, “I’d like to put that awful experience behind me.”

“C’mon. It wasn’t all so bad,” the athlete smiled shyly at him. 

Reggie returned the smile, looking down on the floor, “Yeah. It… definitely had its moments.” 

Luke and Alex stared at Reggie. Then at Nick. Then at Reggie again. 

Alex leaned over to Luke, “You know what? Those two had been too busy playing beer pong the whole time last night. They didn’t even bother talking to girls,” he whispered. 

Luke nodded, “I don’t think he understood what being a ‘wingman’ means…” 

Then, the blonde tapped Luke’s guitar, “Hey, that’s sounding pretty good.” 

Luke had been playing a little melody during their little exchange, something he had just started plucking, the notes already formed in his head. He had to sacrifice his usual deft movements though, his whole coordination still sluggish, but it still sounded good. 

_“Step into my world…”_ he found himself singing, matching the music he was playing perfectly. 

Everyone had come to watch and listen as he crooned the rest of the verse. He kept playing, saying some nonsense words until he started saying some random lyrics off the top of his head, “ _Here in front of me…. La la la… I have ever seen… life can be so mean….”_ he trailed off, not sure how to proceed. 

Luke set down the guitar to everyone’s eyes on him. 

“That was…” Flynn had a hand on her heart, struck speechless, “That was…” 

“Wow,” Nick supplemented, “The word that you’re looking for is ‘wow’. 

Luke ducked his head from all the praise. He raised his head to see what Willie thought, he had this goofy smile on his face, still tapping against the rafters to the beat of the song. 

“Yeah man, didn’t know that you came up with a melody for that yet.” 

Reggie waved off Alex’s statement, “Forget melody. I didn’t know you wrote past the first verse.” 

“You know that song?” 

Oh yeah. No one else but him, Alex, and Reggie knew about the song he had tried to write about Julie. 

“Um… yeah,” Luke cleared his throat, “It’s… um about Julie.” 

“Aww,” Willie cooed. 

“Wow, Luke. I didn’t know that your feelings for Julie ran _that_ deep,” Flynn admitted. 

Luke wasn’t offended by that. His wild reputation had extended far past his partying. He had kept falling in and out of relationships as often as changing clothes. He wasn’t the commitment type.

That was until Julie, of course. 

Nick was still in awe of the melody, “Did you come up with that just now?” 

“Yeah. Sort of-” 

Wait no. That wasn’t true. 

The notes were already there. In his head. But he swore that he didn’t think it up anytime before. And he was pretty certain that it wasn’t some commercial jingle that just happened to give him the serious case of earworm. 

Eyebrows furrowed, he played the notes again. It was clear as day. He was still able to reproduce it. 

_“I think it should go a bit faster_ ,” He could hear Julie’s voice in the back of his mind, followed by a laugh, _“Are we...seriously doing this right now?”_

He could imagine her saying this before burying her face into her pillow. Her in her pyjamas, voice hush and slow like a lullaby. 

_“I’m sorry…”_ he could hear his own giggling intertwining with hers, _“You just look so silly…”_ her hand would reach forward, touching his shoulder and he would look to the print it left on his furry- wait. His furry shawl? 

He jumped to his feet, nearly tripping on his guitar but was luckily caught by Nick before his face met the slab that was the studio floor. 

“Memory!” he shouted, stabilizing himself against Nick. He pushed himself away and picked up his guitar. 

“What?” The whole room seemed to ask him at once. 

“Last night. I got to Julie’s. I don’t know how but… we were in her room. I could see it-” he grasped at the imagery before it could elude him again, “I was wearing the shawl, she was in bed. I was-” he shook the guitar, “I was playing the song. We were… working on it?”

“Only _you_ would pick up a guitar while you were drunk.” Alex teased. 

“No, but- Flynn, you said Julie drank at the party too,” 

The girl nodded, “That was what she told me when I drove her home. She was still tipsy when she got ready for bed.” 

“She was giggly. That’s for sure,” 

“Definitely. By the time she had calmed down, it was like everything I said or did was a little joke,” 

“Okay. Okay,” He was getting there, “How can I jog my memory? Do I- do I just-?” he started slapping at his head which earned a loud reaction from the room. 

Flynn had to come over and pry his hand away, “Sweetie, that’s not gonna do anything but give you a concussion.” 

“How about you keep playing?” Willie suggested, having climbed down the ladder and rejoined the rest of them, “You didn’t start remembering until you played the song. Just keep going and see where it goes.” 

“Willie, you genius!” Luke slung the guitar strap over his shoulder. 

Alex wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, “I do know how to pick ‘em.”

“Okay, okay,” Luke was standing this time and he focused on the melody. Not the lyrics. He didn’t want to get tripped up over the words. Just let the music move him, letting it take him back to that night. 

* * *

_Luke stumbled out of the Uber he had called, gathering the shawl against his chest with one hand and forcing the shades on the top of his head to stay in place. It was great difficulty exiting the vehicle that he had completely forgotten about his phone laying on top of the backseat._

_He needed to check on Julie. He needed to see her._

_He budged against the side gate and clambered up the tree. He had nearly slipped and lost his footing the higher he went but he recovered. He hopped onto the roof and tapped at her window frantically._

_The lump under the blankets moved and soon, Julie, clad in her sleepwear, opened the window helping him in. He had fallen into her arms and she held him tight like she had done back at Carrie’s._

_“Jules,” he said, “Are you okay?”_

_They pulled away and he noted her sniffling nose and her puffy eyes. She had been crying. She didn’t appear to be sad, more just relieved to see him._

_Then, she gasped, her hand shaking as he lightly brushed over his face, “Wha? What happened, Luke?” At the sight of his black-eye, her voice quivered, “You’re h-hurt.”_

_He took her stuttering hands into his own, he kissed her fingers, “I’m fine. Fine. Fine. But Julie…” Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, “what about you?”_

_“I’m okay. I’m okay now,” She helped him towards her bed, she gently sat him down. She was being so careful with him, as she hadn’t been hurt tonight too.  
_

_“I’m so sorry,” he blubbered out, “I should have- I should have been there. Maybe, maybe this wouldn’t have happened-”_

_“Shh,” she soothed, “You got me out. You got me out, didn’t you, Luke?”_

_“You still shouldn’t have been alone. With him ,” he spat. He couldn’t even say the bastard’s name. Not even worth mentioning, especially in front of Julie._

_They sat there in silence. Just holding each other long enough until they had both calmed down and weren’t on the verge of crying. Julie laid her head on his shoulder, maybe in case she had to blot her tears on his new shawl._

_She kept petting him, now fascinated with the texture of this new article of clothing, “Wow.” she said, raking her fingers through the purple fur._

_“I know right?” he breathed, his voice matching the wonder in hers, “Sooo soft.”_

_Luke ended up reclining onto Julie’s empty lap where she could have easy petting access to both the shawl and his hair, “Where’s Flynn?” he wondered._

_“Home. She’ll be back,”_

_“Cool. Coooool,”_

_“You sound drunk,” She giggled._

_He scrunched his nose, “You too.”_

_“Yeah... “ she sighed, her light touches around his head halted, “Nick… he rejected me tonight.”_

_Luke sighed, grasping his forehead, “I know. I’m sorry,” he said, tone morose._

_“How?”_

_Busted._

_“He…,” Luke slinked away from Julie’s lap and sat up, “he, uh, told me. Earlier.”_

_Julie’s eyes widened, “And...you didn’t say anything?” she cried, betrayal woven through her words._

_“He didn’t want me to tell you-”_

_“But you’re my best friend, Luke! You didn’t think I’d want to know?”_

_“Jules… it was between you and him. As if you’ll believe me anyway,”_

_“I would have because you have never lied to me. Ever, ” she punctuated the ‘ever’ with a tough poke into his chest._

_“No. I lie,”_

_“About what?’_

_Luke berated himself, almost letting it slip. It had been a month ago where he had been laying in her bed like this, writing songs about his feelings for her- her not having a single clue. It had been a year ago when they had met and was pretty sure when he had fallen for her._

_He had been keeping the act for a while. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he had been lying for all the time that they had known each other._

_“When I said I was fine. This really stings,” he settled for that excuse, motioning at the black-eye._

_Julie sighed, her anger melting away, “You know what? It’s not even you I should be mad at,”_

_“Nick?”_

_“No. Not even him,” she laughed mirthlessly, “It’s me, Luke,”_

_Luke put a hand on her shoulder, frowning, “How come?”_

_“Like…,” she paused, trying to get her thoughts in order, “I’ve been crushing on that guy for a while now. We hung out and he is just… the sweetest person, always mindful of me. He makes me laugh. I thought that meant… that meant that… he’d want me too right?”_

_“Jules,” It hurt hearing her hurt. Especially when he could just tell her that Nick had liked her but can’t. He couldn’t explain that without explaining himself…without making his feelings known._

_“You want to know the weirdest part? After he told me he didn’t like me like that, I thought I’d cry and burst into tears. I thought I’d hate him for stringing me along, but,” she threw her hands up before letting them fall at her sides, “nothing.”_

_That threw Luke for a loop, “What?”_

_“Yeah. It messed me up. I mean, I thought I knew my feelings. I thought I knew, but… I went through all of this and” she paused to take a breath, “what if he did say yes, Luke? What if he did like me back? And I wasn’t able to care for him as well as I thought I would? I should have been devastated, but… no, I didn’t… I didn’t mind. I was relieved. Like, what’s wrong with me? ”_

_She had become increasingly more distraught as she spoke, concluding with putting her face in her hands._

_He gently pried her hands away and raised her chin, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he said._

_She sniffled, “Luke, I’m serious,”_

_“Me too,” He brought forth the evidence, “Even when you have every reason to cry and scream and curse out Nick, you were more worried about how you could care for him. There’s no selfish bone in your body. You’re the best of us, Julie,”_

_She smiled, not necessarily buying it. She bumped him goodnaturedly, “Then how come I wanna be more like you?”_

_Tonight’s drunken debacles flashed before his eyes._

_“No you don’t,” he told her._

_Luke got off the bed and checked his pockets. Huh. He couldn’t find his phone. His memory was a bit hazy. He could have probably tossed it onto Julie’s desk as he usually did whenever he would climb in through the window, joking that if he were to accidentally fall then he would make sure his phone had made it inside first._

_He went for the desk, going through its contents in hopes to find it. He ended up knocking over Julie’s dream box. He cursed and immediately set to clean it up. He picked up a piece of paper, and although he didn’t mean to read it, the words had jumped out him and he couldn’t help but be intrigued._

_“Um… what’s this?”_

_“Oh that,” Julie was meek all of the sudden, coming up behind him, “Please don’t think it’s weird.”_

_“Depends on what you’ll tell me,” he shot her a lopsided grin._

_“It’s just… I couldn’t stop thinking about those lyrics you wrote. For that girl,”_

_His face dropped, “Oh. That.”_

_“I may have started playing around with some stuff for it,” Luke’s eyebrows shot up which got Julie to struggle to explain herself, “It’s not like I’m finishing your song. That’s not… that’s just… it inspired me to write lines,”_

_Luke gave her the piece of paper, “Let’s hear it,”_

_Julie gave him a dubious look but gave in and started singing softly:_

_Here in front of me_

_Shining so much brighter than I have ever seen_

_Life can be so mean_

_But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave_

_Luke was floored. By the words and the melody she had paired it with. He didn’t get the chance to put his own lyrics to one yet._

_“That’s amazing,” Then he got an idea. He flew to her guitar, the plucking pattern already going on inside his head, “I think I know how to start it now.”_

_“Luke, it’s late,” she warned him, though still smiling._

_“Yeah yeah yeah,” he muttered, while propping the guitar on his knee, “Hasn’t stopped me yet.”_

_Julie guided them to her bed, already excited to be songwriting with Luke like they had used to,_

_“Okay, let’s go over our verses,”_

* * *

His hands trembled and he couldn’t continue. The song stopped. 

Reggie stared at him, expectantly- in fact, the entire room did, “So… you remembered everything?” 

Luke shook his head, “No, I don’t think so,” 

“Then why did you stop?” Flynn asked. 

“Because I was getting to the end,” 

“What happens at the end?” 

“Then I’ll know. I’ll know for sure what happened.” 

But he didn’t want to know. He thought he wanted to, so he could fix it. But the confusion of not knowing was a gift, freeing him from finding out this hard truth. 

Because out of the million possibilities to why Julie did not want to see him, there was one that actually happened. He was scared. He was scared that that one reason… could be something he could never make up for. 

If the next few moments he were to remember were gonna change the course of the relationship forever, then who would blame him for wanting to stop now, to have these last few memories of her be happy ones. 

“Luke. Whatever happens… we’ll be right there with you.” Alex and Reggie came at him from both sides, hugging him encouragingly. Tears were springing from his eyes at this point. He really did not want to do this alone. 

Thankfully he didn’t have to. 

Once, Alex and Reggie had left his side, he took a deep breath. Steeling himself before he played that guitar… 

He was going to remember the rest now..

* * *

_They finished off their verse, having sung it together rather than the back and forth as it was originally written. Never in a million years would he think that Julie was going to help him rewrite the song he had written for… into a duet that they would one day share._

_Their voices melded together beautifully, even after a night of drinking, facing the harsh reality of being emotionally compromised teenagers trying to make it big in music, they sang together like their life depended on it._

_It did. Because if they didn’t have music. They had nothing. To finally have someone who knew what that felt like… it was so easy to give the words everything he got because Julie did the same._

_He had been strumming the guitar, facing Julie on the bed and she had leaned forward into his vicinity, just so he could hear her hushed voice over the music. Luke had done the same, his face nearly touching hers as they sang what seemed to be a secret song. A song just for them._

_When they concluded the song, and he let the sounds of the guitar fade into the night, he was still gazing at Julie, who looked back at him in amazement._

_Clear consensus. This song was special._

_And it was theirs._

_“Wow,” they said simultaneously._

_Luke was beaming at her. For the first time tonight, he finally found peace. He had thought the alcohol had done that for him, but that was just an escape. Here, with Julie, it was like facing every rotten obstacle and finally finding the light at the end of the tunnel._

_Julie, her eyes were alight with something that Luke could not put his finger on. But she was shining brighter than any burning star out there. Her smile- electric and it was directed at him._

_Then as soon as he acknowledged it, it dropped in favor of a more serious face…_

_“Um… Luke?” her voice sounded so tiny, so small when she uttered his name. He had just returned her guitar and he bent over, attentive._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Do you… do you wanna know what was going through my mind,” she looked down, playing with her fingers, “after Bobby… after he…?”_

_“Julie, you don’t need to-”_

_“It’s okay,” she sighed, “I was just going to say, when I was there, shaken up and angry and just… upset. I…” she stopped, wrangling with the remnants of those emotions before settling into a quiet calm._

_“I kept wishing that you were there,” she finally said, matching his mindful gaze._

_That got Luke. That got him right in his feelings. To know that in such a fearful moment, that she wanted him? She wanted him there?_

_“It worked. I came as soon I could,” he brought his voice even lower if that was possible, getting huskier as Julie bit her lip, adjusting her position so that she was inching forward towards him._

_‘You always do,” That smile returned. Then, cocking her head she asked: “Why?”_

_“I think you know,”_

_Julie tucked her hair behind her ear, scooting closer, “Do I?” she whispered, her expression soft. She had gotten close enough that the whisper broke like thunder. He shivered. The storm was vast approaching, and it smelt of alcohol and lavender perfume._

_The stare he gave her was tender, the quick glance at her lips even more so. She rested her hand on the part of the bed that was buckling under his weight, just one shift of her body weight could have her falling into him. Would she dare?_

_His heart was beating so loud that it almost drowned out his voice, as he sought the words to finally tell her._

_“Julie, I…”_

_He didn’t get the chance for Julie had surged forward, closing the gap, snuffing out his confession with her kiss. The surprise elicited a gasp from him, and then a moan as he could feel her fingers raking through his hair, trailing down his neck and keeping it there._

_He pressed on, kissing her back with as much feeling as he could muster. How could he convey a year’s worth of feeling in these few moments? He couldn’t. But he was sure as hell gonna try._

_Luke copied her move, the hand through the hair, though he cradled her face as he did so, thumb grazing her cheek. Julie let out a hum at the contact, making him smile into her lips. God, even when they were kissing, her voice was the sweetest song he has ever heard._

_They never crossed the line of being too salacious, their lips reconfiguring against each others’ as many times as they could without the darting of a tongue. It didn’t even cross his mind, just chasing after her mouth with each rest they took, as if he needed more time to discern her taste._

_But Julie never made him wait too long before the next round of kissing, her eagerness doing wonders for his rapidly beating heart._

_Minutes? Years? A lifetime passed until they finally stopped, their foreheads leaning against each other, their hot, labored breaths fanning each other’s faces._

_He glanced up at her, hoping to see her do the same to him, but her gaze was downwards. Her hands retreated from his body, returning to holding herself up in her leaning position._

_“Oh my god,” he heard her say. To herself. To him?_

_Luke tried to read her body language, it was tough to say that they had been kissing not too long ago because she had withdrawn, curling up within herself and inching away from him, “Did we just…?”_

_Something told him to refrain from expressing such a joyous tone. “Yeah,” was his response. The only safe response._

_When Julie finally looked up at him, he was expecting a myriad of different things- confusion had not been one of them. He tried searching signs of something else, a glimmer of the fire that they had moments ago. But no._

_He saw fear, but not of him- it had mirrored what she had said earlier, of her never fully understanding as something as personal and certain as herself. Her feelings. Her feelings that she had thought she had for Nick._

_But now?_

_All of the sudden, he didn’t feel welcomed in Julie’s room now. The urge to be with her, to seek her out to protect her was replaced with the need to leave. Julie was clearly processing so many things, and oh God- he just had to complicate things even further._

_They heard footsteps climbing up the stairs. Julie was rooted on her bed, her gaze now at her door, “That’s Flynn,” her voice sounded wrong. So far away, it seemed. Like on another planet._

_“Julie-” he tried._

_“I think you need to go,” she didn’t mean to sound brusque, cutting him off. She needed space._

_The steps grew louder and Luke propelled himself to the window, not wanting to stay to have to explain himself to both Julie and Flynn. He didn’t say goodbye, didn’t know what to have said in its stead so he just bounced. He hopped out onto the roof and quickly ducked out of the window view._

_In his rushed side-stepping towards the tree, he had completely forgone all caution. He ended up stepping on his own baggy pant leg and he tripped, grabbing the branch._

_The wrong branch._

_It broke under his weight and he plummeted from the second story and landed hard on the grass._

_His bell was rung for sure, never having experienced such intense pain. It felt like his thoughts were echoing, overlapping his head rattled. He was sore all over, but he forced himself to get up. He couldn’t stay there. He needed to go home._

_He trudged out until he was out on the street, the pounding in his head making it difficult for him to orient himself the right way home. He had ended up going across the street, thinking it was where his house was._

_His vision was swimming, he was losing himself, not having long until he was out for the count. Arriving in the Hendersons’ backyard, Luke saw the pool and the floaty, luckily floating on the edge. He was able to get into it just fine… he just needed a place to rest. For just a bit. He couldn’t bear to put his head on the hard ground again, the floaty was much more comfortable…_

_He closed his eyes, bumping the shades so they lay on his face._

_Then he rested._

* * *

He abruptly stopped playing, tearing off the strap so fast and running for the stand to put it back, nearly dropping his guitar on the way. He had swayed to and fro as he returned to his previous spot, feeling another dizzy spell coming on. 

“We kissed,” he said finally to the group, “We really did kiss last night. Me and Julie…,” 

He then quickly explained what had happened, from entering her room to his nasty fall from the roof, and of course when he had kissed Julie. 

He paused, waiting for the big yell, the ‘Oh my god!’ that was supposed to ensue after a bombshell like that. Instead, they all stood, just completely stunned. 

“Luke-” Flynn started. 

“She kissed _me_ , Flynn,” Luke clarified, not wanting a repeat of earlier, “She looked so confused, she didn’t know what to say…”

“Wait, Luke” Nick interrupted “You fell all the way from up there?” he pointed at the side of the house visible from the studio.

Now why was Nick so hung up on that little detail, didn’t he miss the fact that Julie _kissed_ him? 

“Yeah,” he answered, just to humor him. It wasn’t a big deal. 

“And you passed out not too long after?” Willie probed. 

He did a once over of the room, it turned out that it wasn’t just Nick. They _all_ had completely disregarded the part of the story he was focused on. They were more concerned with his big fall from the tree. 

“Dude,” Reggie went for him, slowly, “You didn’t drink more than you usually did,” 

Luke was not understanding, “So?” 

“You need to get checked out,” Nick decided and everyone tried to come at Luke but he kept backing away from them, maneuvering around the couches and coffee table until he was near the doors, his back facing the only exit. 

“What guys? No, I’m fine!” That seemed to have stalled them. They stood so still, all bearing the same panicked face that had him all concerned now, “ Guys?” 

He felt a light breeze on his back. Luke turned around and saw that the doors to the studio had opened. 

Someone had opened them. 

“Julie,” he breathed out. 

The girl was still in her pajamas and bleary-eyed, having just gotten up. Probably due to the commotion going on with all 6 of them talking and yelling in the studio. 

What was he going to say to her? What was she going to say to him? Would she ever say anything to him? Because she was looking at everyone else’s face but his at the moment. 

Then he blinked at her, confused on why he was suddenly seeing 2 more Julie’s moving and passing each other like ghosts. 

She zeroed in on him then. Her face morphed into concern, her eyes wide and she was lunging at him, calling out for him. He didn't know why until he was suddenly teetering sideways, someone behind him had been able to catch him before he could hit the ground. 

But by then, Luke’s vision was swimming. Everything multiplying, passing through each other like kaleidoscopes until suddenly, it all went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... another cliffhanger.
> 
> Whoops. 
> 
> Hope that this clears things up. I think that's about it on what had happened that night... 
> 
> Right?


	14. Recovering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's recovery goes as one would expect: Very smoothly until something just has to surprise him.

Chapter 14 'Recovering'

Luke woke up to someone holding his hand. 

He struggled to open his eyes- wherever he was it was much too white and bright for him. Yet he persisted, wanting to know what was going on. Blurry at first, Luke blinked a couple times until his vision cleared up.

He was in bed, but the sheets were not his. It was one of those thick, starchy ones that looked to be standard issue for a hospital. Luke inhaled, recognizing that sterilized odor and winced, confirming his fear. 

Were his headaches really that bad that he had to be admitted? 

Luke had to move. He couldn’t be here. He wanted out. Him and hospitals had a very contentious relationship and he had sworn that he wouldn’t get into any stupid antics that would land him here. 

Like last time. After that really bad drunken bender that landed him and the boys community service and had him off parties for good. 

Well… until last night. 

Apparently his coming to had alerted someone beside him. He heard a gasp. He turned to that direction and found his mom and dad there next to the bed. His mom’s hand entwined in his, her face appearing so old and weary. His dad didn’t look any better, hunched over one of the chairs in the room, maybe having been deprived a good sleep or two. 

They perked up when they saw him wake up. 

“Mom? Dad?” 

_“Luke,”_ His mom’s voice trembled as she spoke, reaching for his face. He scooted forward and ignored her hand, flinging his arms around her instead and hugging her tight. 

He had never been so happy to see his mom in his life. 

_“I’m so sorry,”_ he blew out into her hair, his voice shaking, “Mom… I’m sorry. Been so so stupid...” 

So much had happened in the last few days, the days that he hadn’t come home. He knew he had put up this brave front for his friends yesterday, but it didn’t occur to him until he was put in a hospital bed that it had been such a harrowing experience. 

He shouldn’t have toughed it out just to remember everything...

He should have gone home sooner. He was a really terrible son for leaving his parents out in the wind like that, and seeing them both here- he was so relieved. He couldn’t imagine how they must have felt. 

Luke wondered how much they knew of what happened, if everyone filled them in on every terrible thing, but his parents showed no indication, only happy to see their son after a long absence. 

“I-I’m just g-glad you’re okay,” His mom pulled away, her eyes moist and she was letting out shuddering breaths, “When you didn’t come home… we thought… something bad happened to you-,” she paused, placing a hand on her heart and collecting herself before she could finish that thought. 

Tears streamed down his face, he didn’t mean to scare her. Or dad. He brought his hand to hers and squeezed it reassuringly, as if to say ‘I’m here. I’m not going anywhere’. His mom smiled at the gesture.

His dad chose this moment to approach. He had his glasses off and hanging off the collar of his shirt, Luke almost didn’t recognize him. His dad clapped him gingerly on the shoulder. 

“We were so worried, Luke,” 

He looked down, ashamed, “I know.” 

“Good thing you were only a couple houses down. Reggie and Alex had come running to get us the moment you passed out.”

Luke could totally see that: His boys tripping over themselves as they dashed to his place, screaming for help. He didn’t expect anything different. 

His dad went to explain how his mom had been home and followed the boys to where he was, calling his dad while he was at work in the meantime. And since everyone, and he meant _everyone_ was there, Luke had been able to be transported to the backseat of Ray’s SUV no problem. Then he had been taken over to the ER where he had stayed overnight, being monitored by the doctors. 

“You were lucky that all your friends were there when it happened.” 

He was incredibly lucky. So lucky that the friends he had were rightfully concerned for him and were persistent in helping him, even when he had been so dismissive about his health.

“Where are they?” he wondered. He doubted that they were here, seeing as he had been here for a night. 

His mom managed to answer this one, having calmed down, “They’re all at the Molinas still, last I heard. They wanted to come, but we knew that the emergency room won’t allow them to visit,” she sighed, “Poor Julie.” 

Luke straightened up, sniffling, “Julie?” 

“She didn’t want to leave you. Poor girl was holding your hand the whole time even when I got there,” 

Luke’s dad pinched the bridge of his nose before putting his glasses back on, “She nearly climbed in the back of the car with you.” he chuckled, “Ray had to keep her at bay. Her and the guys.” 

Julie… didn’t want to leave him?

He thought she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore because of the kiss. He was confused, but he should have known that she still cared about him in some way. 

God, he must have scared her. Her and all of their friends when he just blacked out like that in front of them. 

The mention of his friends, he wanted nothing more than to jump out of this hospital bed and go see them. His parents could see him getting antsy, but they reassured him that the doctor was gonna come by and assess the situation and hopefully he could be coming home by the end of the day. 

His dad went to go and see if he could get some food for him. Luke patted his stomach. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until he remembered that the last time he had eaten was at the party… 

He walked to the door, “I’ll go ask to see if they have any eggs or something.” 

“With peanut butter?” Luke asked, his cheekiness not the least bit dimmed. 

He watched his dad shake his head, fondly, before heading out the door “I will never understand how you could eat that.” 

“As long as you’re eating something, Luke,” his mom said, smiling at him. 

The peaceful moment was broken by Luke’s yawn. He knew he had just gotten up but he was still pretty beat. His mom sensed this and she squeezed his hand in return, “You need to try and stay awake, honey. The doctor will be here soon.” 

“But mom-” 

“No 'but's, mister,” 

He sighed, rolling over so he was fully facing her. He needed something to do to keep himself awake. Something to engage him. 

“Mom, can you do something for me?” 

She leaned closer, “Yes, what is it?” 

“Can you…” he stopped and inhaled deeply, “can you tell me about the time you were in that one play? _Pippin_ or whatever?” 

The question took his mom aback. She blinked, “Um… why do you want to know?” He knew that she hadn’t talked about this story in years, nearly forgotten until now.

“Please, mom,” 

He watched her, debating whether or not to divulge the years that she had put behind her. It must have been the image of him in a thin hospital gown or the fact that it had been a while since they were able to have a normal, civil conversation such as this because she went on to tell the story. 

“Well…I was only the understudy for Catherine at the time. But then she got sick and people thought I had something to do with it, which is utter nonsense,” 

“Total nonsense” chorused Luke. He smiled, enjoying the sound of his mom’s voice as she went into detail about the show and dealing with cast drama. It was nice, listening to her talk about something she had loved to do. 

He had to remind himself to talk to his mom like this more often. 

* * *

It had been hours since he had woken up at the hospital, and during that time the doctor had come in and tested his cognitive abilities, just to make sure nothing had worsened. They had put him through the MRI, and by some sort of miracle, he didn't sustain much severe damage to his head. But they would see how it goes for the next few days. 

The doctor had prescribed painkillers for the headaches and warned him against doing any activity that would be strenuous on him mentally and physically for the next few days. 

No going on his phone (still missing in some Uber somewhere). No TV. No video games. No exercise- 

No guitar. 

And definitely no BandSlam. 

Luke was crushed when he had found out. The concert was right around the corner and he just found out he couldn’t play. And wanting to get back on his parents’ good side, he knew he had to honor that warning. Especially when his recovery was at stake. 

He was dreading breaking the news to the band, he wasn’t sure what was even happening to their set in the first place. Days ago, he had that existential crisis when he had thought Julie was going to quit the band because of what he had done after the party. Now the fate of their show was even more unclear. 

But other than that, he had been cleared to go. 

His parents drove him home, the sky already beginning to darken. He couldn’t believe he had been away for that long, and if what his mom said was true, he couldn’t believe everyone was still at the Molina’s waiting for him after a night, almost two. 

When they arrived at their front door, Luke was quick to see that his mom had been wrong about them being at Julie’s because Alex and Reggie were plopped on the ground, leaning against the front door. 

Who knew how long they must have waited there. He didn’t recall his mom messaging them letting them know when they were coming back. 

He got out of the car and he jogged over to his boys. They hopped to their feet and pulled him into a hug. 

“Never scare us like that again!” Reggie demanded, as if he had sway with how Luke and trouble kept getting reacquainted with each other. 

“You’re gonna be using the front door from now on. Like a normal person,”

Luke pulled away, motioning for Alex to cut it out. He still wasn’t sure if his parents knew how he got his concussion in the first place. They would totally freak if they had found out he had just come back from Julie’s room when he fell… 

His parents came up from behind them just then. Thankfully, they allowed the boys to come in but they couldn’t stay for long. 

Luke led the guys into his room while his parents threw together some dinner for them. He sat on his unkempt bed, gradually sliding onto his back, making sure his head didn’t get banged up as he did

“Wow. This is serious. You would have just belly flopped or something,” Alex commented before laying down on one side of him and Reggie on the other. 

“Were you guys really at Julie’s the whole time?” he asked them. 

Reggie shook his head, “Not the whole time. I mean, we did have to go home and change,” 

“What about your parents?” 

“I’m grounded. But I snuck out,” Alex said whilst playing with his hoodie string. 

Luke propped himself up, “For the drinking? For being out all night?” 

“Nope… for coming home with the dyed hair. Dad said some stuff…” 

Luke knew better than to ask him to elaborate on what ‘stuff’ his dad had to say about his son looking like a unicorn threw up on him. He got the picture. Hopefully that was all. If his folks knew about Willie, then...

“My parents didn’t even notice I was gone,” Reggie gave a cruel laugh, “Typical.” 

Luke sighed. He hated leaving the boys alone, especially after what happened. He didn’t want them to face the wrath of their families especially when it all spiraled from a mistake he made. 

“Have I said I was sorry? Because that’s what I am. Super, duper, crazy stupid sorry,” 

“Hey man, none of this was your fault,” Reggie assured, “We know the full story. It was Bobby and Carrie’s fault.” 

“They didn’t put me on that roof and push me off. I just had to drag you guys into jogging my memory when it was my own damn fault that I lost them.” 

“You’re really beating yourself up over this. No one’s blaming you for anything that happened,” Alex reiterated.

“Does Julie?” he asked, bitterly. 

“Dude, that girl was worried sick about you. Awkward kiss or not,” 

“The kiss wasn’t awkward. Just what happened afterwards,” 

“Oh yeah,” Alex rolled over onto his stomach, his chin propped up by his arm and feet kicking flamboyantly.

“So how was it kissing our very own Julie Molina?” he grinned. 

Luke groaned. _Now_ they were interested in the kiss? Well to be fair, the news of their friend getting a concussion from falling several stories up was more jarring and deserved way more attention...

“Oooooh. Was it everything you dreamed of and more?” Reggie followed in Alex’s footsteps and mirrored his position. It very much looked like a bunch of girls gossiping at a slumber party in here. 

Luke wanted to roll them both off the bed and kick them out, claiming his headache was getting worse in their presence. But they just had to remind him about it and now he couldn’t stop running it over in his mind. 

He couldn’t even believe for a moment that he had forgotten what she felt like, what she tasted like. Granted, a concussion would have definitely done the trick. But when he re-lived it, playing the song they wrote in front of their friends, he had to come to terms with what he called a whirlwind of a kiss. 

It was nothing he had ever experienced before. 

There had been something there, he swore. The way Julie pulled him in as if she couldn’t wait any longer to kiss him, their hands and lips almost synchronized, there had been no awkward point where one person didn’t know how to carry on or where one person was getting too carried away. It was like they were on the same wavelength. 

It felt… natural. Like they’ve been doing it for a while now. Like he wished they had been doing for a while now.

So, in all seriousness, to answer Reggie’s question-

“Yes. Yes, it was,” 

Reggie peeked at him, “You’re _smiling._ ”

Luke honestly hadn’t noticed but he must have been sporting a goofy look because Alex pouted, going “Awww”. 

“Shut up,” He turned over on his stomach and buried his head in his pillow. 

Reggie gently rotated him so he was on his back again, “We’re not making fun of you, Luke. We’re happy for you.” 

Luke dragged his hand across his face, “But did you guys forget about the part where she totally regretted it? She couldn’t even look at me afterwards.” 

“Even though she was the one initiated it?” 

“She was sorta drunk when we kissed. Just… a lapse of judgement, I guess.” 

How sad. He, Luke Patterson, had been a lapse of judgement…

"Look, we could just sit here and swap theories on why she wasn’t stoked about the kiss,” Alex started, “Or, you can talk to Julie and find out from her.” 

“That’s if she wants to talk to me,” 

Luke never expected things to sort of get back to normal after he had come back from the hospital, even after hearing about how Julie reacted to his injury and wanting stay by his side. It wouldn’t magically undo this tension they had now because of the kiss. 

He knew he messed up. Even though Julie had started it, he shouldn’t have given in to his desires and followed through. He should have known that it was wrong because the whole Nick debacle and with Bobby having planted an unwanted kiss on her earlier that night- she had so many things to deal with already. 

And he just had to add the whole ‘my best friend may have feelings for me’ into the mix.

He didn’t blame her for wanting some space.

“Give it time,” Then Reggie let out a gasp, “Oh yeah, we need to get back to Julie’s soon. We need to tell them you’re good.” 

“Is everyone still there?” 

“Well, Willie had to go back home yesterday. Nick too, mainly because he wasn’t sure how Julie felt about him being there. And Flynn had gone at some point to either go home or return Carrie’s shades. But she’s there right now,” 

“You’re not in the mood for any visitors, right?’ Alex wanted to make sure. 

“Nah, buddy. Just need to rest. And process,” 

“For sure,” 

Then with that, the boys got off the bed and promised they would be back first thing tomorrow. They left before his parents could offer them some dinner. 

Luke kicked himself for forgetting to tell the boys about him not playing BandSlam. It was something they needed to figure out in the morning, but for now, he was still a bit hungry. He went to the kitchen to where his parents were whipping up some spaghetti for him. 

Dinner went along swimmingly. The first time in a while where no disagreements or backhanded comments happened about music or his future. Just a nice, normal family dinner. 

Then Luke excused himself to go to bed early. He was still pretty beat, the last few days’ events finally catching up to him. After he had taken some of the painkillers they already had at home, he operated on autopilot mode once he got back into his room. Slipping his shoes off, discarding his shirt, and swapping his jeans for some loose sleep pants- he went straight to bed. 

* * *

The next morning, he woke up refreshed. 

It had been weird sleeping in his bed last night, since in the span of 4 days he had slept on the floor of Reggie’s room, a pool floatie, and a hospital bed. 

He threw on a shirt and trudged to the living room, hoping to find his mom there. He didn’t expect to see his dad because he had work. Luke got to the fridge where he saw that his mom had left him a note, saying she needed to get more painkillers for his head real quick and that she would be right back. 

Luke was so bored.

He could barely do anything and the one person he thought could keep him company was away. He so badly wanted to pick up his guitar and play a couple songs. No one was looking. He could just get some playing in, so he wouldn’t suffer from withdrawals. 

But the ringing of the doorbell interrupted his contemplation. He went to go answer it and it turned out to be Reggie, Alex, and Flynn. 

He had expected the boys of course. They had brought doughnuts for him- his favorite. But Flynn had been a surprise. She hugged whilst threatening to kill him if he ever injured himself like that again. 

Groggily, he let them in and they occupied the living room. He was about to close the door when he saw the car parked in the driveway- Nick’s. He must have brought them all over. 

The guy himself walked to the front door, bearing boba for all of them. Luke slung his arm around Nick in greeting. 

“How’s your head, man?”

“Mild headache… like all the time. But, I’m not throwing up. Which is a good sign,” he rolled his eyes, shuffling his feet,“You may have been right to say I should have gone to the hospital.” 

The freckled-ridden blonde glared at him playfully, “Damn right I was!” 

“Now get in here for,” he gestured to the rest of them in the house, “whatever this is.” 

“Flynn said ‘band meeting’,” Luke shot him a look and Nick shrugged, “I know, I know. I think I’m just here to bring forth the food. And to check to see how you’re doing.” 

“Much appreciated, buddy,” Then Luke brought Nick inside to join the others.

Luke sat on the couch with Alex and Flynn whilst Reggie went to grab some napkins from the kitchen. Nick chose his dad’s favorite armchair, his eyes exploring Luke’s house since it was his first time here.

“So, uh, band meeting, huh?” Luke started, not really sure if he was coherent enough to have this tough conversation. His gaze landed on Flynn, “If this is a band meeting, then… then shouldn’t…?”

“I’m speaking on Julie’s behalf,” 

Whew. So Julie didn’t quit the band. But it still wasn’t a good sign that she chose not to attend their little band circle now that he was back from the hospital.

Flynn placed a hand on his arm, “Are you okay though?” 

Luke nodded, “Yeah, yeah. Just gotta take it easy for the next few days…” 

“But we got BandSlam coming up,” Reggie said when he entered the room with the napkins and plates before sitting on the arm of Nick’s chair, “There’s only so much taking it easy before a big show.”

“That’s… actually what I wanted to tell you guys…” Then, he explained what the doctor had told him, about how he couldn’t play the guitar, let alone play at a high-profile event like BandSlam. 

It was silent amongst the five of them after that, they hadn’t even touched the doughnuts yet. 

Flynn and Nick seemed disappointed, but mostly concerned. Reggie and Alex looked like he had told them that Christmas was cancelled this year. Luke knew that they were just as bummed that he wouldn’t be able to play at the festival.

“I mean… look. You guys can still go on without me,” Luke salvaged, “BandSlam is big deal-”

“No. No, we can’t man,” Alex shook his head, waving his arms erratically, “Cutting Bobby was one thing, but you? We’re gonna get eaten alive out there without you!” 

Reggie jumped in, sharing the same sentiment, “Luke, it’s either we play with you or not at all.” 

Luke appreciated their reluctance. If it had been any one of them in the situation he was in, he wouldn’t want to go on either. He wondered if Julie felt the same way...

“But what Flynn had said, Sunset Curve has always been able to put on a great show. No matter what.” 

Flynn broached the topic, “Since I’m here to represent Julie, I know she wouldn’t want to do it without you either, Luke.” 

That made Luke a bit better. He would have preferred hearing it from the girl herself. 

He would have preferred hearing anything from the girl at all. 

“It’s too short notice for us to cancel, and during my brief time in this industry- bailing out two days before a big show is a huge no-no. I’m sorry, but as your ‘manager’, I suggest we need to find another guitarist to fill in for you,” Flynn said, not afraid to say what needed to be said. 

As much as it pained Luke to see someone else play with his friends on stage, he knew he couldn’t cancel their show. The band was just taking off, any moves they made during this period was going to dictate the trajectory of their career. If they started flaking gigs, then no one was going to book them for any.

Nick was just as offended by the idea as the boys, “Replacing Luke. Are you kidding me?”

“Just this once, man,” Luke said, finally reaching over to take a bite of a maple doughnut, “For the band.” he concluded, his mouth full. 

“Are we seriously gonna go through with this?” Alex cried. 

_“Yeah,”_ Reggie drew out the vowels which brought everyone’s attention to him. He was sporting a small smile on his face. He seemed to be warming up to the idea of Luke’s replacement all of the sudden. 

The bassist was staring right back at them, like he had some epiphany of sorts, “We just need someone who knows how to play guitar, obviously.”

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Uh… yeah, bro. That’s a given,” 

Reggie stood up from his spot, walking around the arm chair where Nick sat, “And _someone_ who knows our songs real well.” he kept winking, hoping they all got the hint.

Luke leaned forward on the couch, catching on now, “As if they’ve been to pretty much every rehearsal…” 

Flynn looked to Luke, who had been jerking his head in the direction of the arm chair. She made an ‘O’ with her mouth when she realized it, and Alex got it not too long after. Soon, they all shared Reggie’s newfound enthusiasm for the idea.

Nick was confused, wondering why the focus shifted to him. 

“Wait. You guys don’t mean me, right?” 

Reggie’s hands were on Nick’s shoulders, shaking them excitedly, “That’s exactly what we mean!”

_“Me?”_

It was too perfect! Luke thought. 

Everyone surrounded Nick in the chair, “You could learn the parts. Easy,” Luke told him, “Reggie could help you with the vocals-” 

“But I’ve never-” Nick shook his head, getting all nervous,“I’ve never actually performed in front of people. Well, not like since the 8th grade recital and definitely, not in front of as big of an audience as BandSlam!” 

“Soundcheck is today, and it’s just two songs!” Alex affirmed, “We’ll go to the studio right now and-” 

“I don’t know guys,” 

Reggie circled the chair until he was right in front of Nick. He took the other boy’s hands in his own, “Nick, look, you’re a freakin’ god on the guitar-” 

“Hey!” Luke yelled. 

“Yeah yeah. Co-gods whatever,” Reggie waved him off before his attention was back to Nick, “We wouldn’t have asked you if we didn’t think you could do it. I know it’s so much to ask, and you’ve done..,” he regarded everyone in the room, “so much for us already. So much for _me_ already.” 

“Reggie…” 

The bassist drew closer, “Please?” 

Luke grinned, already sure that Nick was done for. Reggie’s puppy dog eyes rivaled his own. And he was pretty sure that there was something going on between the two that Nick would already have trouble saying ‘no’ to Reggie. The guy practically went to jail for him for crying out loud. 

But observing Reggie and Nick just now got Luke feeling some sort of deja-vu. This whole conversation reminded him about the night when they managed to get Julie to perform with them for the first time. That felt like such a long time ago. 

“I mean... ,” Nick faced Flynn, “Is Julie’s going to be okay with it?” 

Flynn nodded, resolute, “She’ll be on board. Don’t worry.” 

Luke didn’t even consider what Julie would think about this. He already knew from their talk that night that she wasn’t so beat up about Nick rejecting her, but that didn’t mean that she was going to be cool with seeing him so soon after that incident. 

Well, he was assuming that with the whole commotion of getting him transported to the hospital, Julie was more focused on an unconscious Luke than talking to Nick. But still, she was going to have to play with Nick, have to play up chemistry on that stage. That was not going to be easy. 

But Flynn had been the one by Julie’s side since that crazy night. They must have talked about it because she was so sure that Julie wouldn’t mind singing with Nick.

Luke wanted to ask her more, to see if Julie had talked about him at all. But he had enough sense to know that even though Flynn was here for him now, her loyalty to Julie was stronger. She wouldn’t be spilling her secrets. And he respected that. 

They waited while Nick thought it over. 

“Fine, I’m in.” 

Luke got an idea. He took one of the boba straws still in the plastic casing. He towered over Nick and proceeded to use the straw to tap his right shoulder and then the left, knighting him.

“Sir Nicholas, you may rise!” he bellowed in an old English accent. 

Nick stifled his laughter but stood up. Flynn shook her head at all the theatrics but was smiling along with everyone. 

“By the power vested in me-” 

Reggie raised his hand, “And me!”

“And I!” Alex followed suit trying to muster a serious demeanour and failing.

I bestow you the title of ‘Official Backup Guitarist’ of Sunset Curve” Then he tossed the straw on the coffee table and extended his hand for Nick to shake. And then the deal was done.

“Welcome to the band.” 

* * *

They were almost finished with their doughnuts and boba by the time Luke’s mom came back from the store. It was perfect because Luke’s head was a nuisance at this point. He ingested the painkillers along with the last of his boba and he thanked her. 

His mom hadn’t been too happy that he had this many visitors so soon after he had gotten back, but she was glad that it had brightened up his day, knowing just how antsy Luke could get when he was bored. 

Pretty soon, the group had to book it to Julie’s so they could run Nick up to speed for their soundcheck at BandSlam later that day. Luke was this close to joining them, but with one stern look from his mother he was forced to stay at home. 

And again, he was thankful for his mom to drive some sense into him because he had completely forgotten that Julie would have been there too. 

Luke was about to sulk in his room when his mom gave him some good news. She had had Luke log into his Uber account on her phone the night before so they could message the driver about his missing phone. She just received word that they still have the phone and would be willing to drop it off here.

The driver should be arriving later that evening. Hopefully, by then, his mom would let him use it for a little bit despite doctor’s orders…

Luke didn’t do too much that day, just stayed in his room and chilled in his bed. He kept coming in and out of consciousness as he took too many naps. He would go to the kitchen to eat something, but then would come right back. His only form of entertainment came in the form of a balled up sock and the mini basketball hoop fixed on the back of his door. 

He must have woken up from his third nap of the day to a darkened room. According to the clock on his bedside table it was already 9. Where did the day go? He had been eating dinner with his parents from what felt like 5 minutes ago. 

The BandSlam soundcheck was well over by now and he was itching to find out how it went. Nick would have slayed it. He just wished he was there to hear them play. 

Quietly, he emerged from his room. He needed to take another dosage of those painkillers. He could feel himself getting better as the day progressed, but it wouldn’t hurt to soothe the mild ache he was still experiencing. Something caught his eye when he passed the coffee table. 

It was his phone. 

It must have arrived while he had been out cold and his parents must have brought it in, knowing that he would be coming back later. 

He picked it up, inspecting it for any damage but it seemed to have survived the night of the party in good shape. 

_That makes one of us._

It was dead so there was no use to check up on what he had missed. Probably for the best. There were probably loads of messages from the people at the party congratulating him on his drunken ABBA performance or mocking him for getting his face punched in by one of his own friends. 

He snagged his phone, a glass of water, and the painkillers before returning to his room. He stumbled through the dark but he was able to reach his desk with all of the items before switching his lamp on. 

He brought out his charger and hooked it up to his phone. While he had finished setting it on his desk, Luke frowned. 

Lifting his head, he got a whiff of something in the air. He must be going crazy because he swore there was a hint of a flowery, fresh scent that clearly didn’t belong in his room. His place was pigsty. It was impressive that he hadn’t tripped over any books or discarded clothes on the floor on the way to his desk. 

He sniffed some more and was able to pick out lavender.

 _Huh, lavender_ , he mused, turning to crawl into bed, _kind of like-_

Luke couldn’t finish his thought. He backtracked into his desk, gripping the table as he was completely startled, nearly knocking over the glass of water. 

Because there perched on his bed was Julie. 

She had her hands folded, nervous. The smallness he had witnessed her become that night was still present, hunched over and rubbing the many bracelets that adorned her wrists. Yet she made steady eye contact with him.

Luke stayed where he was, wanting to make sure that this wasn’t a dream. But no, she was really here. He couldn’t believe it. 

“Hey,” she whispered, “...can we talk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, took a while. I'm starting to get into some pretty big assignments for school so I'm guessing it's gonna take a bit longer for each update, just letting you know. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this. I figured you may need a little filler after the hell I put these characters through. 
> 
> It was cool to finally bring Luke's parents into the mix and actually have him at home for once lol. 
> 
> Sorry if I'm getting any concussion things wrong, I'm just going by what I've been researching. 
> 
> And the eggs and peanut butter thing is an honest to God thing that Charlie has done... like... this boi be really testing me.


	15. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke finally talk...

Chapter 15 'The Talk'

Luke blinked at Julie in amazement. 

He didn’t think he was going to run into her anytime soon. But then again, it felt like the night of the party happened ages ago. 

Luke didn’t know what to expect from this. He and Julie had never gotten into a situation quite like this before. That period when she kept her distance because of the whole Nick thing was nothing compared to these past few days. At least then, they had still talked. The cold shoulder was new for them.

He didn’t realize how much he missed hearing her voice until she spoke just now. 

So yeah. Julie came here to talk, which would have been welcomed by Luke from two days ago. But today Luke was terrified. He could only imagine what she would bring up. The kiss definitely. But what was she going to say about it? What was she going to say about them, their relationship? 

Then, his mind finally caught up with what was happening in front of him and he kept gesturing to his window and his bed, on which Julie was currently seated.

“H-How did you get in here?” 

Her head ticked in the window’s direction.

“That wooden garden thing.” She was referring to the trellis, the same one he would climb to sneak out and see her. 

“You shouldn’t be doing that,” 

She raised an eyebrow at him, still playing with her bracelets, “Funny coming from you.” 

He let out a wry laugh, knowing how he must have sounded like a hypocrite when given a month ago he was asking her to pay him a visit much like this one. 

“I think it’s best to hear it from me. Considering…” 

Luke didn’t have to finish, but Julie winced. 

“Um… are you-?” she tapped her head with her finger. 

He nodded, “Yeah. I’m alright,” 

“Good,” was all Julie had to say about that. But she sounded relieved. 

Luke was rooted by the desk. Under any other circumstances, he would have popped a squat right next to Julie on the bed. But he was hesitant. He didn’t want to replicate the scene that had made things so awkward for them. 

He wasn’t sure Julie would be comfortable with him being so close either.

There was a pause, both of them making quick glances at each other before finding the floor to be an interesting spot to rest their eyes. 

“I had no idea when it happened. I should have heard you,” Julie said regarding his head injury. 

Luke shrugged, kicking a discarded shirt on the floor absentmindedly, “Nothing you could have done if you did. I still would have met the ground…hard.” 

“You would have been brought to the hospital sooner, you doofus,” 

He didn’t need to look at her to know that she was wearing that small smile, the one crossed between slight amusement and disappointment. 

Luke’s eyes wandered around the floor and began to take note of how cluttered his room was. And with the skittish energy that rivaled his mom’s whenever guests were bound to arrive, he dove into the small piles of clothes on the floor.

“Uh… sorry. If I knew you’d be coming-” he apologized whilst gathering up dirty articles of clothing in his arms. 

“Oh no, it’s fine,” 

He kept going about the room, collecting things, “-I just feel like I should, uh, tidy up, you know?-” 

“It’s totally not necessary?”

“-You can keep talking. I’m still listening. Just need to-” 

“Luke!” Julie’s hand topped the growing mountain of clothes in arms, and he was forced to look at her. She shot him a look that could only convey, ‘really?’, and Luke realized how ridiculous he was being.

Julie was no stranger to his messy ways, with her having been to his room numerous times. So why was he acting like this?

Maybe it was because of the way they spoke to each other just now. Clipped and hesitant back and forths that would usually go for acquaintances or old friends.

It was like starting from square one like the sweaty handshake and their first ‘hello’s. It was different. It wasn’t them. 

Or maybe he was trying to delay the inevitable. 

He dropped the clothes unceremoniously, waiting for Julie to speak. He had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. 

“Yeah?” he sounded so timid, his tone sounded so foreign to his own ears. 

She sucked in her bottom lip, her eyes darting between his face and the window. 

“I-I” she tried. Luke watched as she was struggling to order her thoughts, “I don’t even know how to- or what to...” 

It seemed Julie lost her nerve. She had come here to talk, but here she was fumbling and looking to make a quick escape after making the most shallow conversation they ever had. Was she scared too? 

It made Luke all the more on edge. 

“We, uh, played today…” she managed to say finally, “without you.” 

He nodded slowly, trying not to mind the obvious deflection. 

“I know. And I’m fine with it,” He plopped down on the floor, resting against the wall near the window, “Are you?” 

“We sounded great. Although it was weird, not having you there,” 

Then came the question: “But Nick?” 

Julie’s face didn’t go without a slight twitch at the mention of the boy, no matter how much she tried to cool her expression. “He’s got most of it down.” 

“Are you two… good?” 

“I look at him in the eyes when I sing if that’s what you mean. Any other time…”she shrugged, “But, I ‘ll get over it eventually. Show business and everything.” 

Luke figured that Julie wouldn’t be totally okay with Nick playing in the band for the time being. But she had said that night that she wasn’t mad at him, but she was most likely in the process of purging out those romantic feelings that she had been harboring for a good while now. 

But he held out hope that her and Nick would be friends. Good friends. Nick wouldn’t want to be without Julie in his life. And knowing Julie and after hearing how her interactions with Nick made her feel, he was certain that she would feel the same way. 

“It’s gonna be awhile. Before I can play again. Before I can perform again,” Luke brought up, letting her know that there was still time for her to get used to Nick’s place in Sunset Curve. 

“Ok” Julie was disappointed, “How long do you think it will take?” 

“Couple weeks. At least that’s what my mom says,” 

“She must be so thrilled,” she joked weakly. 

Luke peered at the closed door, praying that his mom wouldn’t decide to drop in and check on him. There was a good chance she was still awake. 

Speaking of his mom...

“You guys didn’t tell her about what happened… right?” 

His parents hadn’t talked to him or, from what he had been expecting, grounded him. He had broken so many rules that night that he was surprised he had been let off the hook so easy just because he had a concussion.

He was half expecting them to send him off to his grandparents for the summer out in the middle of nowhere Arizona. At least there, he wouldn’t get into any trouble. 

“I didn’t tell her why you were on the roof, if that’s what you were wondering,” 

“Good. Wouldn’t want her to think-” 

“-My parents were there too. So yeah,” 

“Right,” 

Another break. Another reminder of what had changed between them. 

Luke drummed his fingers against his bouncing knee. It was driving him absolutely crazy. 

They had been in his room for like 20 minutes now and they were nowhere close to addressing the elephant in the room, and it was getting on his nerves just how much Julie was focusing on the window more so than on his face, like she was planning to make a break for it.

As if he was about to let her go before things were left unsaid. 

He stood up, marching in front of her, “Julie. You’re drawing this out far too long. You’re here to say something,”

His hands extended to hold hers, like he normally would to thwart her nerves, but he stopped himself, “Whatever it is, just go on and say it.” 

Julie didn’t budge, shutting her eyes as if trying to will Luke away. 

Luke was getting desperate now. He had been left hanging like this for so long, for the last couple of days now. This needed to stop. He hated not knowing. 

“C’mon! Tell me, please?” he cried out.

Julie’s eyes flew open as she pushed herself off the bed, staring down her friend, “What do you want me to say, Luke? That this has been the hardest month of my life?” she all but exploded. 

Luke stepped back at her sudden outburst, taking in her heaving form and her eyes- those damn eyes he loved so much- sapped of their usual spirit. 

“Ever since I joined the band, so many things have happened. So _many_ things,” her voice grew tight towards the end which had Luke instantly regretting pushing her. But she swallowed and continued. 

“Everything I thought I knew about myself, my friends, and my life got totally upended. And when I thought I finally got a handle on things, when I was able to get some stability- another change just comes my way and I just- I just can’t deal!” 

“Good change? Bad change?” Luke was trying to make sense of what she was talking about in particular- their little moment they shared, that whole night in general? But again Julie didn't answer immediately, adding to his frustration.

“Help me out! I’m so confused!” 

Julie growled, squeezing her hands into a fist and releasing them, “So am I! And I’m the one who… who...” she trailed off.

Luke wanted to let out a cruel laugh, “We’re not in kindergarten, Jules! You can say ‘kiss’!” 

Her face scrunched together, put off by his tone, “Why are _you_ getting mad?”

“Because…. Because this-” he gestured wildly at the space between them, “-is ruined now! Us, whatever we had. Did you hear us just now? Making stupid small talk. Awkward pauses. Who even are we anymore?” 

“Who even are we?” she initiated contact by jutting a finger into his chest, “Who even are _you_?

Julie huffed, "You wanna know why I haven’t come by earlier? Why I haven’t reached out? It’s because I saw a side of you that night that I’ve never seen before a-and it scared me!” 

“Is this- is this about the drinking-?” 

“No. That didn’t even faze me, Luke! You could be totally plastered, singing and dancing to Dirty Candy til the sun comes up and it would make more sense to me than…” 

_Their kiss..._

“Now, why would that scare you?” 

“Because you’re supposed to be my best friend! We’re not supposed to kiss. Not like that! And I’m not supposed to-” she stopped abruptly, throwing Luke off. 

She must have finally noticed that they were on the brink of flat out screaming at each other in a house occupied by his parents as well as him because her features softened. And with a little shake of her head, she was reeling back her volume. 

“I messed it up for us. Me. I’m sorry,” she conceded, “You have every right to be mad at me. Because I flaked on you when you needed me the most and made things so strange between us,” 

“You didn’t flake on me! We all found out about my concussion at the same time,” 

Julie waved it off, “It’s just I never wanted to be in the middle of anything. You got hurt because of _me_! Bobby and Carrie had it out for me and it put the band in jeopardy, the boys got beaten up, thrown in jail. And Flynn’s now under all this stress.”

“What? You think you’re some bad luck charm?” was what he gathered, “It wasn’t your fault!” 

“But I kissed you! While drunk. Knowing full well that you’re into some other girl! That’s _my_ fault!” 

Luke had to do a double take. He studied her expression and to his horror, she was firm in that belief. 

_Oh my god_

She still thought… that he was into someone else?

Here he was panicking that Julie was finally going to call him out on it, to squash his hopes on ever getting to be with her. He had thought his blatant interest in her put her off to the point where she had to avoid him. 

He wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or scream to the heavens that even after kissing her like how he had kissed her, she still thought he was interested in some other girl?

“Oh my god,” he repeated out loud, tugging at his hair. “Are. You. Kidding. Me? Do you really not get it? After all this time? _All this time!_ ” He was borderline hysterical now.

Julie tried to place her hand on his shoulder, “Luke, your parents. They could hear you-” 

But he kept going, not caring how loud he was getting. He couldn’t take it anymore, 

“You didn’t get in the way of anything! When are you going to realize that it’s you? That it’s always been _you_!” 

Julie froze, her chest halted mid-breathing, her hand floating over Luke’s arm. 

Luke didn’t have time to read her shock, instead forcing her hand into his while he stepped closer, _“We say we’re friends… I play pretend…”_ He sang to really hammer it home. 

_Don’t you see?_

The floodgates had opened, a year of unsaid things were now spilling out of him and he didn’t care. There was nothing to lose. It was all going up in smoke, might as well burn along with the remnants of their old normal. 

“I’ve been crushing on you since the day we met, Julie! Your hair was in a ponytail, you had your glasses on and those ridiculous dinosaur slippers that would always trip you up, and you looked so goddamn beautiful in your mismatched pajamas. Then you opened your mouth, and the moment I heard you sing- I was a goner,”

Then, he was running through the next lyrics, the ones that were all too familiar at this point. 

“ _Shook me to my core… Voice like an angel… never heard before,”_

This time, he got Julie’s other hand, now holding both of them as he gazed into her eyes. 

“It’s been a year since then, and things haven’t changed. I’ve always felt for you… even when you wanted Nick. And it messed me up, Julie. You had no idea, but I stomached it all for you,"

He could feel his emotions running rampant the more he spoke, now coupled with a raise in volume in his quaking voice.

"I was willing to do it for as long as possible because I know that _this_ would never happen. But hey, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now!” 

Luke released her without warning, not even wanting to face her when she had the chance to respond, and he stalked to the opposite side of the room. 

He nearly collapsed against his desk from out of breath he was. His hands crawled over to the bottle of painkillers he had swiped from the kitchen before all of this, now aware of how his headache only got worse from the strenuous activity that was pouring out his heart for the girl of his dreams. 

Swallowing the pills and drinking his water, he waited a beat before he garnered enough courage to turn around. 

When he finally did, Julie’s hand had gone to her gold Mary charm, her eyes trained on him as she was processing everything that he had said. She stumbled on her feet, caught between walking towards him and staying in place. 

“Luke…” her words came out hoarse, like his name had been lodged in her throat, “You never… you never told me…”

“Why do you think?” he waved around, addressing the already tense atmosphere their earlier awkward conversation started.

“But apparently it was so obvious. Everyone knew. Even Bobby and Carrie knew because they tried to use it against me!” 

After his last words echoed in the room, they plunged into another cursed silence. Luke looked at her expectantly and she knew that the ball was in her court, but she wasn’t serving. 

She shifted around under his intense gaze, “H-How am I supposed to respond to something like that, Luke?” she cried.

“You do. You do know, Julie. That’s why you’re here, aren’t you? So just do it. Just put a stop to it." 

She was confused, “What did you think I was going to do?” 

“The only way for us to move past this,” 

Luke had to keep himself from letting the tears build up, he was so overcome with all the mix of emotions that his body decided to react this way. Of course, Julie didn't feel the same way but now he was going to feel the full brunt of rejection, and... it was too much. 

He ran his hand down his face, sniffling. He had thought about this, he knew what needed to happen. He wanted to be with Julie so bad, but there was no chance that was happening. But he needed to still have her in his life and it seemed less plausible after confessing his feelings. 

“Shoot it to me straight. Break my heart, please, Jules and I’ll put it all behind me,” he bargained, “As long… as long as you’re still in my life. Tell me to forget about the kiss and we’ll move on. We’ll pretend like the past few days never happened.” 

Julie’s lips parted, her brows cinched. She looked almost appalled, as if he had asked her to do something impossible. 

“I-I can’t do that.” 

“Then it’s going to be like this every day. Do you want that?” 

“No!” Julie yelled, “Geez, you’re being so freakin’ dramatic!” she covered her mouth, instantly regretting saying that, but Luke didn’t take it to heart. 

Julie kept ‘X’-ing her arms, refusing to consider his offer, “It’s still gonna be weird! So we’re just going to pretend?”

 _Yeah,_ he mused bitterly, _But it needs to be done._

“We just won’t talk about it. And maybe one day, we can laugh about it,”

That spurred quite the response from Julie and she stomped towards him, deeply offended that he would say something so offhandedly. 

“Your feelings are not a joke, Luke! I am not going to dismiss them! You get enough of that already here,” 

It was then that Julie caught sight of Luke’s eyes starting to water which in turn tugged at her mouth and she was mirroring his hurt. He knew that Julie hated seeing him in such pain as much as he did with her. 

His breath hitched when she slowly brought her hand to cup his left cheek.

“I never wanted to make you feel like this. I care about you, Luke _,_ ” she whispered, " _So so much."_

And Luke had never ceased to be amazed that anyone could say those words with such conviction.

Now it looked like she was about to cry too. 

He gripped her wrist, trying to smile despite the heaviness, “I care about you too, Julie.” 

Julie shared in his sad smile, and Luke thought that this was it. Her letting him down gently. He braced himself...

“I-” 

Her phone started buzzing in her back pocket, which took them briefly out of the tense moment. But Julie waited for it to stop before she could continue. 

“It’s just that-”

The buzzing continued more furiously than before, signaling an influx of new messages.

Julie dropped her hand from Luke’s face, now reaching for her phone to silence it, getting annoyed by the interruptions. He was too.

He needed confirmation. He needed to know Julie wasn't into him so he could finally, finally move on, but now he had to wait until all of this was sorted. 

She read the notifications and made a face, “Ugh. Sorry, the group chat is going crazy right now.” 

Luke wiped at his nose then pulled up the hem of his shirt to dab his eyes, humming in acknowledgement. But his body went ramrod straight though when he saw Julie’s mood shift from annoyance to concern. 

“What is it?” 

Julie flipped her phone around for him to see. The brightness level nearly blinded him so he had to blink repeatedly before he could read their friend group chat.

Apparently, it all started when Flynn had dropped a link to someone’s Instagram page.

ALEX: _What dis? (9:45pm)_

ALEX: _HELL NO (9:47pm)_

REGGIE: _Is that what I think it is??? (9:47pm)_

REGGIE: _DON’T TELL LUKE PLS (9:47pm)_

ALEX: _He has to know!!! (9:47pm)_

REGGIE: _HE GON FREAK (9:47pm)_

  
  


Luke soon shared Julie’s concern on what this could mean. What were the boys trying to keep from him that was this upsetting?

“Hold on,” Luke circled back to his phone charging on the desk. He powered it up and waited until all the notifications popped in before jumping in on the group chat. He needed to let everyone know that he was out of the Stone Age. 

LUKE: _Got phone back. What’s up??? (9:50pm)_

Luke was not prepared for a video chat request from Alex in response. He swiped immediately and the drummer’s face filled his screen. 

“Luke!” Then Alex squinted at the background, “ _And...Julie?_ ”

Then all of the sudden Reggie popped up, splitting the screen in two.

“Oooh we should call another time then, I guess,” he said, noting that Julie was in his room.

The bassist’s suggestive tone showed he was completely misreading the situation. Couldn’t he see that they were crying just now? 

And then the screen split into threes, with Flynn now showing up to the party but with Alex’s face still dominating, “No! This can’t wait!” she interjected.

Julie appeared, tiptoeing to be seen over Luke’s shoulder, “Flynn?” 

Reggie was panicking, “Are you sure we should-?” 

“He deserves to know!” Alex interrupted. 

“Full on rampage, guys!” The bassist tried to warn them, but the other two in the call merely shook their heads. 

“What the hell is going on?” Luke asked, not appreciating to be the last to know about something… again. 

Flynn had a grave expression on her face, “Julie… click on the link we sent,” she directed. 

Julie went to the group chat and tapped on the Instagram link and Luke had to hold back the urge to punch something when it redirected to Bobby’s page.

It was a video posted today. It was of him sitting in his garage with a guitar propped up on his lap. 

_“Hey everybody, I thought I’d try something new with this song I wrote and I wanna see what you guys think. Enjoy,”_ Bobby introduced before he slid on his guitar strap and began strumming a tune. 

As he played and as he sang the lyrics, Luke’s whole body went cold when he realized that it all sounded so familiar. 

Julie gasped, noticing this as well, “Wait. That’s-that’s-” 

“‘Get Lost’,” Luke finished. 

Luke’s brain stopped working. He felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks.

‘Get Lost’ was a song that he had written a while ago. It had been a result of a particularly creativity-inducing chapter of his time in the previous Sunset Curve lineup, but he had never shared it with Bobby. 

There were quite a number of songs that he hadn’t shared with him mostly because the guy was barely there at rehearsal and also the fact that they were good songs, very experimental, so he didn’t think it would have fit Bobby’s rigid image of what Sunset Curve should sound like. 

But somehow Bobby knew.

And now he was trying to pass off Luke’s song as his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Finally posted!
> 
> It was hard trying to figure out the conversation between Luke and Julie. Just wanted to get it right.  
> And sorry if the ending seemed a bit weak. I originally had a bit more to it, but it's getting late and i wanna post this chapter up. And I think those parts would be better suited to start the next chapter. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you had enjoyed this angst fest..


	16. Revenge is a Dish Best Served… Spooky?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night takes a turn when the group makes plans to get back at Bobby...

Chapter 16 ‘Revenge is a Dish Best Served… Spooky?’

Luke had gotten hold of Julie’s phone, trying to make sense of what he was seeing… and hearing.

Bobby really was singing, with the utmost confidence, Luke’s song. 

The chord progressions were exactly how he had written it and the lyrics… Bobby knew just when to hold the final note in the pre chorus before the time change. It was one thing to know just the lyrics, but Bobby had memorized every instruction Luke had given himself on how to perform it. 

It was no coincidence. 

Luke should have known that things weren’t gonna die down suddenly just because he had to recover from his concussion. That the contentious relationship between him and Bobby was still very much there and very much the other guy’s agenda. 

Julie seized her phone back, as if to spare Luke any more pain at having to look at Bobby’s video for any longer. His stare was still fixed on where the phone had been in his hands. His fingers trembled, on the brink of a total breakdown hearing his masterpiece of a song coming out of that bastard’s mouth. 

In his other hand, his own phone, Flynn, Reggie, and Alex’s faces took up his screen. Their bickering over how to best handle Luke right now was only making things worse. He sought some sort of reprieve in Julie but she was busy holding him in her pitying stare. 

God, he wished she would stop looking at him like that. He could only take so much, especially after the way he had confessed his feelings for her only minutes ago. 

“Luke!” He snapped his head to the screen at the sound of Reggie’s urgent call. 

“Huh?” 

The bassist’s face pulled inwards. His green eyes flashing a warning for Luke to brace himself. 

_“There’s more.”_

Luke shut his eyes, inhaling deeply, “I swear to God, I’m gonna have PTSD every time I hear you say that!” he snapped, calling back to every time Reggie had to reveal a new piece of information from the Night They Must Not Speak Of.

It seemed Julie was already ahead of Reggie since she was scrolling through the latest of Bobby’s videos on his page, all posted within the past few days. 

“‘Long Weekend’ and ‘Crooked Teeth’. He… recorded those too.” she broke the news. 

_“What?”_ Luke made a move to get at Julie’s phone again but she held it close to her, ready to move to the opposite side of the room if she had to. 

Those songs were near and dear to him too. Again, stuff that he had only shown to the people he trusted and that counted everyone present in this call. Luke didn’t understand how- 

“I know right? I loved ‘Crooked Teeth’!” Reggie huffed. 

Alex scoffed, “Why? It’s about you-” he froze, realizing his mistake, and Luke wanted to smack the blonde through the screen. 

Suddenly, Reggie’s eyes and nose filled his third of the screen at an unflattering angle, “What? Luke? Is this true??” 

“Dude, you were the one who teased me constantly for having braces in middle school. Of course it was about you!” 

Flynn clapped her hands, commanding everyone’s attention, “Boys! Not now! How the hell did Bobby get his hands on Luke’s songs? We’re the only ones who have ever heard them!” 

Yeah, Luke was with Flynn on that.

There were only one copy of these songs, and they were all in his writing journal. He would always have another copy of just the lyrics on hand to share with the group, as well as to have another stab at writing it legibly. But the chords, the lyrics, the time changes, the key changes were all in his little beat up composition book. 

Now come to think of it, Luke hadn’t seen his journal in days, with all the whirlwind of events he had completely forgotten about his most sacred possession. Only a lucky few got a chance to pore through it in its entirety besides him. 

He racked his brain trying to remember the last place he had put it.

His most recent scribbling had to be before the afterparty, right when he had left the van to talk to Bobby. Capping his pen, wedging into its crinkled pages, then he had snapped it shut, tossing it carelessly onto the passenger seat…

“Reggie, _the van_!” Luke nearly hit the ceiling, jumping down once it hit him, “I left my journal in the van!” 

Then it dawned on everyone what Luke was implying, and they all collectively freaked out. But no one more than Reggie.

 _“Bobby. Stole. The. Van?!”_

Now, Luke was secure in his masculinity to admit when he was afraid. And he was afraid of a lot of stuff, although he wouldn’t really show it for the sake of putting everyone else at ease. 

But Luke couldn’t help but flinch when Reggie gritted out those words, the fury thriving through him more now than it had through Luke when they found out about Bobby kissing Julie.

He rarely saw his friend get to the point where he was so red-faced furious, but there he was and it freaked Luke out. 

That van had been his pride and joy, it had been the first place to hide when Reggie’s parents yelled a little too loud. It was the mode of transport to get him to either Luke’s or Alex’s whenever the loneliness became unbearable for him. So many great memories in that decrepit hunk of junk… 

And out of everyone else who went through the After Party from Hell, Reggie suffered the most: going to jail pretty much, getting grounded by his parents, and getting stuck with the distressing thought of never getting his van back. Luke was lucky to even see his phone again after all of it. 

Now, they all found out that it hadn’t been some random car-jacking. It had been a deliberate douche move by none other than Bobby. 

“Reg-” began Luke but the bassist abruptly exited the call. Presumably to scream into his pillow. 

“Look, some faceless account just sent me his stuff in my DMs,” Flynn explained, “I wouldn’t have found out about it otherwise. So maybe not a lot of people have seen it?”

Alex clicked his tongue,“Yeah.. I wouldn’t check the views if I were you, dude. But what are we gonna do? He can’t get away with this!” 

Julie was at his side now, “Luke?” 

It had been some time since he had spoken, now realizing everyone was deferring to him on how to proceed. It was his life’s work after all. 

His hands framed his cranium, his thoughts crowding as much as his friends were, although two of them were miles away.

“I just… I just need a minute.”

Julie reached for him, “But Luke-?” 

He dodged her hand and jerked backwards towards the door, avoiding her touch like the plague. A twinge of guilt passed through him seeing Julie close in on herself again. But he just couldn’t… not after what happened between them. 

He hastily shoved his phone at her so she could talk to Flynn and Alex still, but he was out of here. 

Luke opened the door and slipped into the cool hallway, sliding down to the floor once it was shut. His quiet ragged breaths took hold of him and he didn’t get up for who knows how long. 

God, he couldn't take much more of this. This week had just been unforgiving- the last hours even more so. 

He had told Julie that he had feelings for her. She finally knew. 

Luke had been so prepared to keep it a secret for as long as he knew Julie, apart from that moment of weakness after their first show together. He didn’t give much thought on what would happen once she had found out.

A much more optimistic side of him would have liked to see Julie, smiling, tears in her eyes and finally coming to grips with her own just-as-intense feelings for him.

They would have kissed like in the movies, with the camera circling them while the orchestra played. Luke didn’t have a noble steed, but they would head out into the sunset on a lawn mower like in that one Patrick Dempsey movie Julie adored. 

Fade to black. Credits would roll. Happily ever after. 

But then there was the pessimist in him, whose vision of what would happen had a striking resemblance to what actually did- Julie struck speechless and completely caught off guard. 

No joy in her tears, no explosive kiss. Just… looking at him, with no idea what to do about that sensitive information, like he was someone else. Not the Luke she had known for forever. Not _her_ Luke… 

And now with Bobby stealing his songs and trying to take credit for them. Luke was just tired. Tired of having his soul bled dry, through his words, through his lyrics- only to find no peace. 

Julie had said that she admired how open he was, how passionate he was despite everything as if it was something innate and ever present inside him. 

But no. There were nights, much like tonight, when he wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear, wishing he had never said anything at all. Maybe if he was as passive as other people were, then maybe bearing his soul wouldn’t have hurt this much. 

Luke didn’t know what to do about Julie. Or Bobby. He wanted the songs back- his journal back, but who knew what Bobby would be planning to do with the rest of his unreleased songs. Blackmail them into kicking Julie out of the band? Or just keep releasing them as his own to get famous? 

No one should ever play games like that. Especially with those songs that he worked so hard on. Songs that he had believed in his whole heart were going to resonate with people.

The nostalgia of simpler times with ‘Long Weekend’ and even the funny undertones of ‘Crooked Teeth’ would have had people looking to their own ‘Reggie’s in their lives and just get it. 

All Luke ever wanted was connection, his music being a conduit to reach other people who were going through it like he was right now. And Bobby robbed him of that. 

He could hear Julie’s hushed tones mingling with Flynn and Alex’s until all of the sudden it stopped.

Luke knew he had to get up and reenter his room soon. He would make sure Julie got out of his house safe and sound but it was a ‘stew-in-my-own-misery’ kind of night.

He wouldn’t have minded Julie’s company in cases like this, often her being on the phone with him, talking him down from his darker moments, but he just… couldn't be with her right now.

Just as he brought himself to his feet, about to turn the knob, Luke heard the sound of drawers sliding open and the plastic hangers in his closet clacking together, as if it was being rifled through. 

Opening the door, he walked in on this scene: Julie laying out some of his clothes on his bed. 

“Julie? What are you-?” 

The girl moved quickly about the room, now grabbing one of Luke’s old backpacks from the corner of his room where his other guitar was. She unzipped it to check its contents, which was nothing but guitar-related stuff, and was satisfied. The backpack quickly joined the other items she had collected on his bed. 

Julie threw his jeans at him, “Get dressed.” 

_What was going on?_

Luke didn’t do what she had commanded, instead peering over her shoulder while she brought out his guitar tool kit from his bag. There in the kit were the usual stuff for guitar maintenance- screwdrivers, diagonal cutters, string winders, nut drivers… 

“Whoa, what are you planning to do with that?” 

Julie didn’t answer, only returning the kit to where she found it. She patted the bed again to where the rest of the clothes she had laid out for him were, growing impatient that he wasn’t changing out of his home clothes. 

His eyes bounced between the clothes and the backpack and he was able to make the conclusion. 

“Are you... going after Bobby?” 

Luke’s tone must have been incredulous because Julie crossed her arms, defensively. 

“Why not?” 

“This is not like you,” 

She sighed, “I know.” 

Julie never really approved any of the pranks that he and the other guys would pull. All because it came from a concerned place. She wouldn’t want them to get into the type of trouble they would get up to before they had met her.

But here she was, about to go to war. 

“Then why-?” 

“Because what he did to you was not okay!” Julie fumed, pointing in the direction that would be Bobby’s house, “He knows how much you put into every song, he knows how much music is your freakin’ lifeline. It’s… everything to you. And he goes and does this!” 

Now it was Luke’s turn to shush her to avoid being found out by his parents because Julie had trouble containing her scathing tone.

She was upset, so upset to the point that Luke had to remind himself that it was his songs and not Julie’s that Bobby had stolen. 

The girl practically radiated in rage, and Luke knew it stemmed from such a tender place. 

_If somebody hurts you, then I’m gonna get hurt too._

“Oh, Julie,” he breathed out. 

Once, her lyrics popped into his head, Luke understood why Julie was like this. 

She was his writing partner after all, the one to constantly peek into his soul every time he let her flip through his journal. 

Julie knew what was in there- every scribble of his indecipherable writing, the tear-stained pages for songs he was not ready to show to the world yet, and even the beginnings of the love song that she was now aware was for her… 

What it took for him to extricate a piece of himself to put into words, all the pain, the joy, the challenges- she knew. She knew because it was what she had to go through every time she wrote her own lyrics. 

This process was sacred, so personal. What Bobby did was unforgivable in her eyes. 

“It’s your voice, Luke. I’m not gonna let him take it away from you,” Julie shouldered the backpack and was already pushing his window open. 

He grasped her arm, not wanting her to run off and do something crazy, no matter how touching the gesture was. 

“When I said don’t be like me, I meant it! Bobby already got his ass kicked, Julie! And besides, BandSlam is tomorrow, you should be resting up.” 

Julie’s eyes softened and for a second Luke thought she was going to cup his face like she had done earlier, “Luke, you put yourself out there for me all the time. Like all the time,” 

“Not all the time,” 

“Yeah, all the time!” she insisted. 

What Luke had done for her that night and for bowling, and for everything else since they met- he couldn’t imagine not doing whatever he could to make sure Julie was okay. That was his job as her best friend. 

“I can’t even begin to try and thank you for all of it. Come with me or not, but I’m still gonna make him pay for hurting you. Please,” she begged, “Lemme do this for _you_.” 

Luke was… touched. It was a total flip of the switch from what their earlier interaction was. 

Even though Julie was planning to do something un-Julie-like, it was familiar. How she would be up in arms for those she cared for, ready to defend them at all costs. He guessed he was glad that he was still in her inner circle, despite their previous awkwardness. Glad that that hadn’t changed. 

But he didn’t want her to go down that rabbit hole. Not for him. And it was getting late and she and the others really needed to put on a great gig for BandSlam tomorrow. 

Although, he had half a mind to dissuade Julie Molina when she had her sights set on something. Luke could tell, from how she pursed her lips, how her jaw was fixed so that her lips were in an unwavering, serious straight line, that she was not going to back down from this. 

He let go of her, reluctantly and he set down the pile of clothes in his arms. It was time to dress for a night out. He would be stupid to not come with just to keep an eye on her.

“I can’t guarantee that I’m gonna be much help.” he addressed his addled current state while slipping his shirt off before replacing it with the chosen black cutoffs. 

It wasn’t until after he brought the bottom of his shirt down that he realized that Julie had gotten silent.

And with a quick darting of her eyes from lingering on his chest, Luke swore that she averted her gaze last second, as if he had caught her doing something she shouldn’t have.

She did give him privacy to put his jeans on, already out on the roof with her back to the open window. 

“Don’t worry. I called everybody so it won’t just be us.” she told him, “They’ll be at mine in 20 minutes,” He made a noise signaling that she could turn around now. 

She did, resting her chin on the windowsill, “And besides, I could do all the dirty work for you. The creep did kiss me after all.”

“Ah, I should have known that this was not entirely about me,” he joked. But she was right. She should be able to have a hand in this payback for what he did to her too. Luke already had the honors of punching the guy for that. 

“It isn’t. We’re doing this for Reggie too. It’s a collective revenge effort,” 

“Of course,” 

Luke was about to swing his leg over the sill but Julie held her hand up, frowning at him, “Nuh-uh.” 

He rolled his eyes but didn’t protest, “Fine. The front door it is.” 

* * *

Luke found himself at the Molina’s sometime after managing to sneak out the front door without either of his parents noticing. 

Alex, Reggie, and Flynn had shown up not too long after he and Julie did. Now they were all in Carlos’ room out of all places, with the kid super thrilled to be able to stay up later with Julie’s friends. 

Apparently, Carlos' window had a good vantage point to Bobby’s house, with his room being at the front of the house and was not entirely shadowed by trees and branches. He was stationed at said window with a pair of fancy binoculars. 

Luke should be concerned but he was too busy side-eying Reggie who sat cross-legged on the floor next to him, with a huge plastic tub of slime that he had brought over. 

“Turd eater stole my van. You better believe he’s gonna get some of this,” had been his explanation, but it left Luke with more questions. Like how did he have time to make that much slime?

Nick couldn’t be here for this, having to call it a night to prep for BandSlam tomorrow. Also, he was still on thin ice with his dads for getting thrown in the police station and getting drunk. 

Luke was surprised that they were still cool with him doing BandSlam still. He had chalked it up to his one dad, the one who had been on Broadway. He would be a sucker for a good performance. 

This night was getting too surreal when Rose came in with snacks for them. Yeah, she was totally cool with everyone being over at this hour to plot Bobby’s demise. Ray, on the other hand, had gone to bed early that night and had warned them all that he better not be taking any one else to the hospital anytime soon.

The woman plopped on the floor with them, taking a bite of one of the french dip sandwiches she made for everyone, “What’s the game plan?” she asked, curious. 

Luke laughed. Only Rose would be down to be a part of this, probably the only mom he knew would ever be an accomplice to such a scheme. 

“We’re gonna get all Clooney/ Bullock on this -ish” Flynn stated confidently. 

Rose’s eyes lit up, “A heist!” 

Julie nodded, now taking the lead: “We have 3 objectives for this evening: Get Luke’s Journal. Take back the van. And humiliate Bobby.” 

“And how are we going to do that?” 

Luke was insanely curious. He knew that Julie could be quite devious but it was usually small time stuff, like blasting contemporary Christian rock to embarrass him. 

The girl snapped finger guns at Alex. The blonde rubbed his palms together with glee.

“Guys, remember when we had gone camping? For the fifth grade class retreat?” This was mostly addressed to Luke and Reggie because this predated meeting Julie and befriending Flynn. 

Luke nodded, not sure where he was going with this. 

“We were telling all these scary stories around the fire, right? And Bobby got so freaked out that night he couldn’t sleep.” 

“Oh yeah, he was screaming to be let into the counselor’s cabin so that they could call his mom,” Reggie remembered, “People made fun of him for weeks.” 

“And the thing is, he never outgrew it. We were never allowed to play horror movies at his place, and he always opted out of going to the haunted house jump-scare places with us. The guy gets spooked easily.”

“Oh yeah. He's afraid of ghosts,” 

Luke remembered all the times he and the boys would joke about ghosts whenever they would hear a random creak on the stairs. Bobby would be the first to tell them to drop the subject, appearing to be shaken up at the thought of a spirit in the house.

Bobby had been the most superstitious of the bunch that was for sure, for he, Alex, and Reggie didn’t really believe in such things, especially ghosts. 

Then, Julie dove into the proposed plan. Apparently, the Molinas had stored away their Halloween decorations in the attic and Julie thought it would be funny to grab one of their motion-sensitive animatronics and stick it in Bobby’s garage. 

“... and we can use our bluetooth speakers to lure him there, play some creepy noises, and knowing Bobby, once he triggers the ghoul figure, his reaction would be priceless.” 

Luke got the picture, “And we film this?” 

“We stream it, baby,” Alex called over to Carlos, who left his post to grab a camera and tossed it to drummer, “Well, we can stream it on our phones. But night vision camera footage we’d post later. Thanks, Carlos.” 

“No worries. But this is too complicated. Can’t we just beat him up? Like Luke did?”

“Carlos!” Rose scolded. 

Reggie laughed, “Sounds like something the _Petal Pushers_ would do though...” 

Rose shook her head, blushing at the reference to her band days, “Ah, ah, ah. That’s all behind me. And besides, I need to set a good example for my children.” 

Then in the same breath, she spoke to Carlos, “You need to keep lookout. We need to know what we’re dealing with out there. You have a very important job, _mijo_.” 

Luke snickered. _Yeah. Model parenting right there._

“Okay, mom. But so far. I don’t see a van out there,” 

“Like there’s no way we wouldn’t have noticed my van parked across the street,” 

Reggie was right. There were only so many places to park on this street, and with Bobby’s garage being his studio, it was doubtful that the van was at his house. It couldn’t be that easy. 

“He must be keeping it somewhere else,” Alex figured, munching on his sandwich thoughtfully. 

“I don’t even think he’s home right now,”, remarked Carlos, adjusting his focus on the house, “His parents either.” 

Flynn pulled up Snap Maps and was able to locate Bobby, “He’s in Malibu.” 

“He’s stashing it at Carrie’s. Has to be,” Luke surmised, “We wouldn’t have thought about going back there anyway. But he will be back. He would never spend a night at Carrie’s.” 

“And your journal? How do we know it’s at his house and not with the van?”

“We don’t,” Julie stood up, “We’re gonna need to split up then: One party at Carrie’s. The other at Bobby’s.” 

“I guess since I have the car, I’ll go to Carrie’s,” Flynn wasn’t exactly thrilled, Luke could tell, but she was more than capable of carrying this part out. 

Alex volunteered next. “I’ll go with Flynn. We’re gonna need to find a way to hotwire the van. I can give Willie a call and he could walk us through it.” 

Luke and everyone else decided to ignore the mention of Willie’s colorful past for Alex’s sake. 

Julie handed Luke’s guitar tool kit over to Alex, “There might be things in there that could help getting in the car. We don’t have time to get tools from the shed.” 

Reggie raised his hand a little too eagerly, “I know Bobby’s pretty well!” He went to join Julie’s side with his tub of slime in hand, “We are _so_ gonna use this, right Julie?”

Luke was about to push himself to his feet but Rose’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. 

“Young man, you will be staying put,” she commanded in the most ‘mom-like’ voice Luke could ever hear from Rose Molina. 

He and Julie shared a puzzled glance. 

“But-?” 

“Mom?” 

“He’s staying until you guys are done setting everything up. In the meantime, he’ll be here and when it's time, he'll come over and stream it online,” Rose explained.

Then she turned to Luke, “You can’t be doing too much any way. You’re supposed to be recovering.” 

Well, there went his plan to keep an eye on Julie.

Although Luke's body was for sure not up for the challenge of setting up this prank and didn’t mind getting benched, it didn’t sit well with him sending Julie and Reggie off to Bobby’s house by themselves. 

If anything happened to them, if Bobby came home earlier than expected, then he wouldn’t know what to do especially in this state. 

Julie looked like she wanted to argue with her mom, but with one glimpse at Luke, she said nothing. She probably didn’t want to make things worse for him in case anything went wrong. 

_You’ll be good here?_ Her eyes emote. 

Luke nodded, shooting her a reassuring smile. 

“Okay,” Julie held her phone up and everyone around the room followed in suit, including Carlos and Rose, “We have our tasks? We call or text each other for updates.” 

Julie’s tone was serious. It sounded like she was talking about something as dire as a rescue mission and not some prank. Well, it sorta was. They were rescuing the van and his journal from the evil clutches of Bobby after all. 

Luke had to take a deep breath, kinda amazed that Julie was taking this so seriously- all because she wanted to get Luke his music back. 

There was the hum of excitement building in the room, but everyone knew what it would mean for Luke and Reggie if they were to pull this off, so they all had their game faces on. 

Flynn and Alex were the first to go, hopping into Flynn’s car and they were off to Malibu. Then, once Rose had finished retrieving the ghoul animatronic from the attic and other necessary supplies for them, Julie and Reggie crossed the street and jogged some houses down until they were at Bobby’s. 

Carlos had his eyes set on them the whole time from his room, while Rose and Luke were on the porch after sending them off. 

Luke stuck his thumb in the direction of the house, “Should we, uh, go back to Carlos?” 

But Rose shrugged, “Nah. It’s a nice evening. Might as well stay out here while we wait.” 

She hopped onto the porch ledge and swung her legs over so her left shoulder leaned against the wooden pillar. Luke did the same but oriented himself to where his back was resting his back against his pillar, knees drawn to himself as he faced Rose. 

“You’ve gotta be the coolest mom ever to let us get away with this,” 

Rose’s laugh, light but all encompassing, had him grinning from ear to ear, “You’re right. I am.” 

“I doubt your mom was just as cool about all the stuff you did when you were our age, huh?” 

“Oh yeah. Big time,” The woman combed her curly hair over so it parted on the opposite side, “My mamá would never be able to sleep at night if she knew what I had been up to with my girls after our concerts.” 

Luke loved hearing about Rose’s band days. It seemed like another world back then, when fame was a bit more unattainable which made the reward of making it big and sharing music to the masses much more worth it. 

“Will we be getting a _Petal Pusher_ reunion anytime soon?” he asked but it was more of begging at this point.

He had heard Rose’s ex-band on tape and thought they sounded so rad. What he would give to see them play live now.

“Maybe when you’re all graduated so I can get my studio space back,” she threw back, teasingly. 

“Who says I’ll leave once I graduate?” 

“I’m sorry. I mean once you kids make it big and practice in fancy spaces rather than a shabby, renovated garage.” she corrected. 

From any other adult it would have sounded condescending or made to be some sort of joke, but Rose really believed it. 

Luke could only hope, “We’ll see about that,” 

It was quiet between them for a while, until Rose cleared her throat. 

“You know what my greatest accomplishment is, Luke?” 

Luke’s shoulders rose up and down, “Your french dip recipe?” 

“That is up there, not going to lie,” her fingers fluttered in the night air in the direction of Bobby’s house, “I thank the stars that Julie is not like me. Well, she is in ways, the ways that don’t keep _me_ up at night. But through some miracle of my parenting, she is way more behaved than when I was her age.” 

“Yeah,” Luke agreed, “She’s pretty great.” 

“That’s why I have no problem with you sneaking into her room at night,” 

Luke nearly fell over the ledge and landed into the bushes if he hadn’t made a grab for the column behind him and hooked his foot in between the wooden bars of the porch. 

“W-what? No, I would never-” his voice crack must have been a dead giveaway because Rose was not letting up. 

“You don’t think I haven’t noticed?” She had an easygoing smile, nothing to indicate that she was upset, “Don’t bother denying it, boy. I know all the tricks.” 

Luke broke out into a full body blush, “It’s nothing like that, Rose. I swear I don’t- we don’t-” 

The woman was growing more amused as he blabbered on. She raised a hand to stop himself from his string of nonsense.

“I know you don’t. Julie’s not like that. You’re not like that. But I feel like I need to say this to dissuade you from going up on that roof ever again.” 

“Don’t worry… ,” he pointed to his head, “I learned the hard way.” 

“Good. If anything were to happen to you… well, Julie wouldn’t know what to do,” 

Luke sighed, “I scared her pretty bad, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah, you did. She wanted to so badly go with you to the hospital,” She tapped his sneakers, “You two have a very special bond, don’t you?” 

Luke wanted to say yes, but earlier events of the night caught up with him. 

“You could say that,” 

Now it was turn for Rose to sigh, “You know that Julie didn’t really have much of a friend group before we moved here?” 

Luke was aware. When he had first started talking to Julie, he figured he was going to be hearing a lot of stories from her friends back home, when ‘home’ for her here hadn’t quite settled in yet.

But no, it was mostly stuff surrounding her family that she would share. She didn’t really give a reason why and Luke only assumed what Rose had just revealed to him. 

“I thought it had been me getting really sick years ago that got her so closed off from reaching out,” 

Now that was news to Luke. 

She waved it off, “I’m fine now. Don’t worry. But it messed up Julie for a while, there was a time when she didn’t sing, didn’t play piano. That all started to change when we got in the process of moving here,” 

“I didn’t know that,” 

Julie never mentioned any of this to him. Although there were times when he caught her on the mic, taking huge breaths and gripping the stand tight before they performed and even before just a mere band practice, as if it required more effort.

But that all would dissipate once the music played, her blinding smile present whenever she sang. 

“But Julie doesn’t really handle change well even with positive changes too. In a span of a month, she joined a band, went viral, made some new friends, lost some old friends, just.. coming to terms with a lot. That was why I didn’t let you in to see her the day after the party…” 

“You were right to. Me being there wouldn’t have helped her. Turns out, I confused her.” he echoed her words from earlier, “that I scared her. Things are weird between us right now.”

“Well, have you guys talked about it?” 

“I mean… we tried. I tried,” He grimaced thinking how explosive him confessing his feelings was, “I barely got through it. I…” he looked down, “I had to sing parts of a song we wrote to get my point across. It’s stupid-” 

“No, it’s not. It’s very Luke of you,”

He lifted his head at that, wondering what she meant. 

“There’s one way the Luke I know can express himself and that is through song. And that can say much more than we could ever mean to say with words,”

Now Luke was for sure in the presence of a lyricist with that kind of advice. 

“What did Julie say?” she pressed.

“I don’t know. She was supposed to say something, but then all the Bobby stuff came up,” 

“Ah... ,” Rose thought to herself for a moment before continuing, “So you’re worried about things changing between you two?” 

“Yeah,” 

“Well, you need to remember a few things about change,” she held up a finger, “Number one, contrary to, well, life and the way the universe works, there are some things that will never ever change. Your bond with Julie is one of them.” 

Luke rested his chin on his knees, “You… you think so?” 

“I know so. You both bring out the best in each other musically and as people. You grow and you grow together. Not many people find that and not many people have been able to hold onto such a link,” 

She slid off the railing and back onto the porch and she held Luke’s hand comfortingly. 

"Even with other constants that exist in this world, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, I’d bet on you two every time. Because even when things are ‘weird’ between you guys, you both would still do anything for each other.” 

Luke stared off into the night. That was true, wasn't it? Julie was still in his corner even after their awkward talk. She was going to try and scare the pants off of Bobby for him, trying to avenge him because she cared so much about him no matter what. 

“And… uh the second thing?” 

Rose patted his head lightly, being mindful of his condition. 

“The flipside of it. Things do change. For better or for worse. I just think you’re too caught up with the ‘worse’ part that you’re forgetting that change can be good too. Now come to think of it,” her sights were now on Bobby’s house, “That’s something that Julie needs to learn too.” 

“Right,” 

Luke knew that it was impossible for things to go back to the way they were. The whole pretending that the kiss and his confession never happened was just infeasible. No use trying to undo it. 

It was just uncharted territory from here on out, especially with not knowing what Julie thought about it. She clearly didn’t want to pretend it didn’t happen, but Luke had no idea what that could mean for their interactions beyond tonight. 

And yeah, he had been dreading for the worst because he thought with his confession it was going to drive Julie away, but if Rose was right, then he shouldn’t have to worry about losing Julie. That her being in his life, in whatever capacity, was meant to be. 

Luke wanted to feel like he did back when he had first performed with Julie, as confident about their bond as Rose was. And tonight, for some reason watching Julie lug a ghoul statue around in hopes to terrify Bobby, he was slowly starting to get there again. 

Maybe it was because she had all the reason to stay away after that jarring confession, but she jumped in headfirst into the Bobby situation for him. And after their kiss, when she had been avoiding him, Julie had dropped everything to be by his side when he had fallen unconscious days ago, and she still wouldn’t leave him. 

_Julie would never leave me._

His mind declared with utmost certainty. That thought was his saving grace tonight, something that he could hold onto whenever he would ever doubt their bond again. The words warmed him on this chilly summer evening and he hugged himself tight to keep the sentiment close, not wanting to ever lose sight of that again.

If he could just remember that, then whatever else would happen shouldn't be much of a problem.

As long as he had her there with him. 

“Rose…” Luke said, a small smile fixed on his face, “Thank you.” 

“Anytime,” 

Then Rose’s phone began to ring. She answered it, and Luke could tell that it was from Julie, “ _Mija,_ what is it?” 

There was rustling on the other end, and Luke leapt from the porch and leaned close to the phone so he could hear better. Rose set it to speaker mode and repeated the question. 

“Mom..."

Julie’s heavy breathing filled the line and it sent prickles of chills throughout Luke’s body.

“...we’ve got a problem.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Got a long boi for you here with this chapter. 
> 
> It's got a lot of stuff and even though I teased some of it, we're gonna have to wait to get to the actual prank. Sorry. I really wanted to put this little moment between Rose and Luke here. 
> 
> Do you think the prank is gonna work? Will we ever hear Julie's thoughts on their conversation? 
> 
> I guess we'll find out next time. 
> 
> And y'all make sure to check out my tumblr @bluefirewrites. I've been posting a lot of headcanons and snippets of what I'm working on or thinking about working on. I've been getting more active there recently and if you wanna drop an ask/ message, that would be really great. 
> 
> Thanks for all your support and your kind words for having me take it easy with updating. It really helps. My workload still hasn't let up, in fact it had increased because midterms- maybe once it lets up a bit I could be updating more. 
> 
> Make sure to leave some comments. I love reading those even though i don't have much time to reply to every single one of them like I used to. Sending you all much love for this week as Halloween vast approaches!


	17. Revenge is a Dish Best Served… Spooky? Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prank on Bobby gets set in motion!

Chapter 17 'Revenge is a Dish Best Served… Spooky? Part II'

Luke swiped the phone from Rose’s hands, heart racing, already jumping to frightening conclusions. 

“Julie? _Julie?_ What’s going on? Are you okay?” 

_“Yeah, I’m-”_

“Did Bobby come back? Is Reggie okay?” 

_“-Luke, please-”_

“If anything happened to either of you, the plan’s off! Right, Rose?” 

The woman didn’t have the chance to squeeze in a noise of agreement before Luke went on another tirade. 

“Come back right now and we’ll figure it out-”

_“-Oh my god, I can’t with you-”_

“No prank is worth you getting hurt-” 

_“Lucas Theodore Patterson, will you let me finish?!”_ Julie’s piercing screech and use of his embarrassing middle name finally shut Luke up. 

_“Thank you!”_ She took a moment to catch her breath from her sudden outburst. Then she spoke again: 

_“...Mom, can you get the extension cord?”_

Luke closed his eyes, letting out a relieved exhale. But his tone remained borderline panicked. 

_“An extension cord?,_ ” he spluttered, “Jesus christ, Jules! You had me going there for a second. And for an extension cord?” 

Then the girl filled him in on the snag to the plan. 

Reggie had to cut the power to the garage so the animatronic ghost can be hidden, along with him and Julie who would be filming Bobby’s scare with Carlos’ night vision camera.

But they didn’t account for having nowhere nearby to plug in the scary Halloween decoration. They needed to connect it to the exterior outlet on the side of Bobby's house. 

Rose gingerly pried her phone away from Luke so she could respond, “I’m on it, songbird. Is there anything else you need?” 

_“I think that’s- wait, what’s that, Reggie?”_ Murmuring could be heard, presumably Julie and Reggie talking.

She was back on the line seconds later, _“Oh, do you think either one of you can get a hold of Flynn? We’ve been trying, but so far nothing.”_

“It takes a while to get to Malibu. She could still be driving,” 

_“Then try Alex? I need to help set up the slime.”_

“We’ll go for Alex. Be careful, Julie,” 

_“I will. Thanks, mom,”_ The phone clicked, ending the call. 

Rose slipped the device back into her pocket and jerked her head towards the front yard, beckoning Luke to follow. They ended up in the studio, with Rose climbing up to the loft and sifting through the junk to procure a long, orange extension cord. 

“Fore!” She tossed it over and Luke caught it, almost letting it go upon impact. He had underestimated how much 20 feet of cord would weigh in his arms. Geez, was this industrial strength? 

He stood there, staring at Rose in the loft, awaiting further instruction. But she rested her elbows on the banister, eyeing him as if _he_ was supposed to be doing something. 

“Well? Don’t you have a mission to complete?” 

Luke cocked his head, “You’re letting me go to Bobby’s?” 

“You’re just taking it to her. From what it sounds like, they’re about wrapped up. Unless, you’re not feeling too good?” 

“No, I’m good. It’s just-” he swallowed, “Are you sure?” 

“Yes. And besides,” The woman leaned over the banister, eyes glittering, “Aren’t you supposed to have a conversation to finish?” 

He should have known that Rose had a scheme of her own. But she was right. They weren’t clear on Bobby’s ETA or whether or not he was still at Carrie’s, so there was a window.

Maybe long enough of a window to pull Julie aside and finish that dreaded conversation on where they were at with their relationship?

Yet, Luke would appreciate different circumstances, like if Reggie wasn’t there rigging up a slime contraption or if they weren’t in Bobby’s dark garage fraternizing with a ghost decoration. 

Well, he would see how it goes. 

“Please don’t get hurt, Luke,” Rose warned, “Spare me the frantic phone call from Emily, will you?” 

He laughed, skipping through the doors, sights set on Bobby’s, “I can’t make any promises!”

Didn't she know him?

* * *

They were waiting on the Wilson’s driveway when he arrived. Reggie lit up when he saw Luke stroll up with the roll of cord hanging off his shoulder while Julie’s expression tightened at the sight of him, but it was quick. She mirrored Regge’s happy energy, albeit slightly dimmed. 

“Luke! Buddy, you made it!” The bassist clapped his forearm. 

Julie mentally examined him, mostly drilling a hole in his head, “My mom gave the ok?” 

Luke nodded. He appreciated the concern. He was fine, all things considered. Maybe his vision wavered slightly when he had walked over here from the Molinas’. But he was not going to tell her that. He needed to be here, needed to help see this through. 

“By the way, Flynn had called us after we finished calling you,” she mentioned, “She hightailed it over to Malibu and had parked a few houses up from Carrie’s. She just saw Bobby’s car pull onto the street.” 

“Okay. We got like 20 minutes then,” The guitarist shimmied off the cord, “Uh, here. ” 

Reggie swooped in to gather the yards of orange in his arms, “I’ll take that. Julie did a lot of the grunt work.” He shuffled off with a wink in the girl’s direction. 

“Grunt work?” It was then that Luke processed the image of Julie in front of him. She was grinning, both hands behind her back. 

“Ta-da!” Then she whipped out his journal. 

Luke blinked, a disbelieving scoff wormed out of his gaping mouth.

He took the book in his hands immediately, running his fingers over the barely bound cover, over the ridges, scribbles, where he had etched out with dying pens. He thumbed through the contents, checking to see if everything was accounted for. 

No torn pages or snide comments written in Bobby’s writing. Good. Luke had half expected him to draw something obscene on ‘Perfect Harmony’. It must have been the first song he had looked up in his journal. If Bobby had touched that song- 

He couldn’t bear to think about that right now. 

“Thank you, thank you!” Forgetting himself, he tugged Julie into the tightest, most grateful embrace he could ever give. He could feel her sweet laugh reverberate through his chest and it took all of his willpower not to keep his face buried into her hair. 

He stepped back, “How did you- where was it?” 

The question caused Julie’s cheeks to bloom.

“Jules?”

Her eyes darted to the house. 

“In his-?” His eyebrows shot up, “ _You broke into his house?_ ” 

“Yeah she did!” Reggie whisper-yelled at the two, although neither of them could see him. But the bassist sounded so proud. 

“It wasn’t in the garage. I had to check!” was her defense. 

He knew he shouldn’t feel this way. He was supposed to discourage any further defamation of character here. But the thought of Julie breaking into Bobby’s room to retrieve one of his prized possessions… it didn’t do much to help stave off any growing feelings he had for the girl in front of him. 

Julie appeared sheepish to have pulled that stunt. He set out to put her at ease. 

“Wrecking ball, Julie. Like I’ve been saying the whole time,” he chuckled and he watched as the crease in her forehead disappear and she smiled at him. 

“Uh… is there anything else I can help with?” 

“Yeah, there is,” 

Julie then instructed him to work the flashlight on his phone before they ventured into Bobby’s dark garage. Luke had almost activated the slime shower if it hadn’t been for Reggie jogging up behind him and cautioned him from opening the left door. There had been a reason the right one was left open. 

“When the time comes, you’re gonna use this,” Reggie’s foot kicked at a broom leaning against the garage, “To lock him in. He’ll think the spirit is haunting his ass. Then he’ll be desperate enough to open both doors,”

Once they were both inside, Reggie shone the flashlight over the doorway, where a small shelf was fixed above. From what Luke could recall, that had been where the clock would rest, instead, a tub of slime was perched there, directly in the center of the doorway. 

Luke couldn’t exactly describe how it would all work, only seeing hints of a fishing line running from somewhere at the base of the tub and somehow ending up attached to the left door handle, but he didn’t doubt Reggie’s genius for a second. If there was someone more pranky than him, it was their resident bassist. 

Then Luke spun around and almost pissed himself at the sight of the ghoul figure. This one was unlike a simple sheet and some abstraction of a face. It was a half dead creature, with the saddest looking sunken in eyes, mouth unhinged, and was deathly pale. And if he had stepped on the trigger pad, then the flashing lights from the base would have made it all the more terrifying. 

Julie cleared her throat and the boys followed the sound until they were in the very back of the structure where the shelves that housed Bobby’s music collection were. She was kneeling in front of a smaller shelf, the ones that had his vinyls.

She had just opened a laptop on top of it, and Reggie nixed his flashlight when the glow of the screen suddenly illuminated their small area of the garage. 

“Please tell me you didn’t take this from his house too,” 

Taking back the journal and van was one thing. And so was sneaking in to prank Bobby. But stealing the guy’s actual belongings was an offense not easily explained away to the police. 

“No, he left it here. Reggie was worried that Bobby might have scanned your book. Made copies in case things went south,” 

“Right. I haven’t thought about that,” 

“We’ve been trying to crack the password. Maybe you can give it a shot?” 

Luke was on his knees next to Julie, “I don’t need to crack it. I know it.”

His fingers found the keys easily and he typed in the password: _OrpheumBaby!_.

His screensaver popped up, and to Luke’s shock, it was still the same. A picture of him, the boys, and Bobby, all covered in sweat after a particularly successful soundcheck at an early Sunset Curve concert. They had all been smiling. 

He nearly slammed the laptop shut. 

Relaying the password out loud, Luke heard Reggie let out a sigh, “Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”

The bassist seemed to be just as conflicted holding that piece of personal Bobby information. 

“That was our dream,” Luke divulged to Julie, “When we formed the band that was the venue we wanted to perform at no matter what. It was all we could talk about.” 

“I keep forgetting that you guys were actually friends at some point,” 

“Yeah,” 

There was a reason Luke knew that Bobby would be coming back from Carrie’s alone. He knew that he couldn’t stand how boastful his uncle could get about his daughter’s success or the rock hard expensive therapeutic mattresses that would be waiting for him if he had decided to sleepover after a family function. An offer that his parents would take up every time. 

So many other stories and personal information shared over the years, on the basis of trust. If anyone would ask Luke a year ago if he trusted Bobby, he would have said yes. No hesitation. 

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he stopped seeing Bobby as a friend? When he began to differentiate him from the other guys.

Did it start with skipping out on practice? Their squabbles on whose guitar parts would get more airtime? Him deliberately cutting Luke off on stage whenever he tried to play to the crowd? Was it him insisting on the band spray painting the gazebo on their last drunken endeavor? 

Was it him never accepting Julie into the group? For the year that Julie had been in their inner circle, Bobby not once had reached out to her. They wouldn’t talk unless they were in a group setting and whatever after show hugs that she would give the guys, his was always short and awkward. 

Julie squirmed next to him and he recognized the guilt weighing on her shoulders. She must have been thinking where it all went wrong too. She must have assumed it was a year ago, on a summer day, when a new family decided to move into their neighborhood… 

“Hey,” His hand found hers, “there were issues between us and Bobby that started way before we met you,” 

“Yeah. He thinks that Jimmy Page is a better guitarist than Brian May,” 

Reggie’s comment had them grinning, but Luke continued, seriously, “Him not giving you a chance had just been the final straw.” 

The bassist joined them on the floor, his chin resting on Julie’s shoulder, “A real friend wouldn’t have done what he did to us this week. You’re right to plan this.” he soothed. 

Julie nodded, relaxing from her boys’ comforting touches. She patted Reggie’s shoulder behind her and she was on her feet, going to check on the bluetooth speaker. The bassist left to double check that the jumping ghoul was working and that the touch pad was where it should. 

With much trepidation, Luke snooped around on Bobby’s laptop. He had no choice but to pull up the pictures folder, and his stomach sank deeper and deeper into body when he had to sift through many photos of him and the boys, early iterations of the Sunset Curve logo, crude diagrams to figure out staging, and the memories came rushing back. The happier memories of their time together as a band. As friends. 

The more he scrolled the more Luke second guessed himself for going through with all of this. 

That all changed when he found them. Pictures of his journal entries hidden between a photo of Alex dunking Reggie’s head into the lake on their outing and one of himself, blowing out his birthday cupcake two years ago. 

The betrayal somehow hurt more now than it did when he first heard Bobby sing his songs. 

“He did scan them! That son of a-” 

“Guys, it’s Flynn!”

Julie raced towards them, expertly navigated her way in the dark. The boys clustered around her. Their friends’ faces, Flynn’s and Alex’s, were on the screen. They were running, and from the angle, and spooked expressions, it was like a scene straight out of Blair Witch. 

“Woah, woah. What’s-” 

_“Freakin’ ….security….system, Jules!”_ Flynn wheezed as she ran

Alex looked like he was on the verge of collapsing, _“We- we triggered something!”_

“What are you doing calling us for? Get the hell out of there!” Julie pleaded. Reggie and Luke shouted similar statements, all of them fearful. They could hear footsteps on their end, overlapping with their friends. Security guards? 

Alex laughed mirthlessly. By then, he and Flynn had stopped, having found some cover. They could see leaves and assume they were in the shrubs somewhere. 

_“I, for one…wanted to turn back...once the alarms started blaring but nooooo. ‘Keep going’ Flynn says…. ‘Get up off your ass’ she says when I trip and fall…I’m not wearing the shoes for this!”_

_“We’re-we’re too far away from the car. They’re going to be all on us if we go back the way we came,”_

“You’re still going for the van?!” 

Reggie dug his hands into his hair, “You’re insane! Thank you for going the extra mile for my van though. But you’re insane!” 

“Flynn’s right though. You need to keep going. There are the back roads. Less security. We went with Bobby one time to ‘borrow’ some of his uncle’s prized whiskey collection. We were in and out without a fuss,” Luke encouraged, “If you find the van, you get out through there.” 

_“That’s if we can get in. I still need to call Willie. Let’s pray that he knows how to hotwire too,”_

Flynn went out of frame then came back, _“I swear I saw something parked next to the gardeners’ shed.”_

That was hopeful, but given how the camera was shaky, the adrenaline was palpable for both parties. Escape was not guaranteed. 

“Where are you now?” Julie asked, straining to make out their surroundings. 

_“In the bushes. Not far. We’re gonna make for the shed. Wish us luck,”_

_“We don’t need luck. We need Jesus. God! Anybody! Please-!”_

Flynn ended the call, cutting out Alex’s desperate cries. 

Silence fell on the three of them. 

“Should...we be worried?” Reggie dared to ask. 

“Yes,” Luke and Julie chorused. 

“But there’s nothing we can do right now. They’ll let us know if they’re stuck,”

Luke was with Julie there. Even if they did call an Uber to come and rescue their friends, it would be a longshot if the driver could find the backroads. They would have been stopped by security before ever reaching their friends. 

Best to proceed with the plan. Otherwise, it would have all been for nothing… 

Luke returned to the laptop and trashed whatever Bobby had on his songs. He even pored through the other files to see if he had any videos lined up with any more of his music and dumped those too.

Good thing the cloud existed- whatever he got rid of here, it would do the same on his phone, where he assumed most of the videos were. 

He was tempted to trash everything that had anything to do with him and the boys. After what Bobby put them through this week, he didn’t deserve any of these memories. Luke couldn’t look back on them the same way anymore. It was ruined. All of it. 

But Reggie’s inquiry about their time frame brought him back to reality.

Less than ten minutes to go.

Laptop shut, Luke turned to see Reggie already getting into position, squatting next to the night vision camera aimed at the doors. He summoned the voice alteration mic that Alex had the morning after the party, and beckoned Julie over with it. 

“Yeah, just need to fill in Luke on his part,” she said.

She walked him out onto the driveway. 

“Alright, boss. What else have you got for me?” 

“So, my mom says you’re gonna stream it. How about,” she pointed to the shrubs leading up the driveway, “you hide here, and once you see him go into the garage, you start your camera.” 

“Flash or no flash?” 

“Flash. You can’t see otherwise,” 

“But will he notice from there?” 

“I don’t think so,” 

“Okay,” 

“Good,” 

“Sweet,” 

She nodded solemnly, about to head back into the garage. 

“Julie?” he found himself calling out and she was rooted to the spot. 

“Yeah?” 

Now or never, right? While they had some time. 

“I’m…,” He scratched the back of his neck, switching between looking at his shoes and her face. He was thinking through the words on the way over, cutting them, moving around in his concussed mind like editing lyrics. Julie needed to hear this the right way. 

“I’m always gonna be there in your life,” he ended up revealing, “In any way you’ll have me.” 

He waited, watching as the words took effect. 

Something dislodged in Julie, and she let out a long exhale. Her shoulders had significantly dropped, her stance changed, and she was smiling, her spirit returning with the perk of her lips. 

The girl had been a ball of nerves the whole night. It was the first time he had seen her truly at peace. 

“You don’t know… how much that means to me, Luke,”

He wanted to hold her now. Wanting to say, sing, do whatever it would take to get that smile back to its fullest power, never leaving her to doubt his presence in her life. He wasn’t going anywhere, and she knew that too. And she didn’t want him to either. 

They were going to be alright. 

A flash of light struck Julie’s face, blinking. Luke followed the path and saw it came from the Molina household, from the upstairs window. A powerful spy flashlight flickering on and off to Morse code. 

Carlos’ signal. They had less than a minute. He must have seen Bobby’s car turning onto the street. 

Luke was backpedalling into the bushes, sending her an assuring smile, “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Then she was in the garage not even a second later, probably taking her position next to Reggie. 

Luke was able to duck behind the bushes just as the headlights of Bobby’s car swept over the area. He clamped his hand over his mouth, to muffle his breathing, but he was in the clear as long as the car engine was running.

From his position, he could see Bobby park on the street, leave his car, and waltz up the driveway. 

He would never use the front door to get in, always to the back so he could pass the kitchen for snacks. So when Bobby made it up the driveway, about to turn towards the rear entrance, music, coming from the garage, began to play. 

Luke watched as Bobby took the bait. He was going to assume that the stereo was freaking out and slip through the already opened right door. 

It was go time. 

He only had seconds, but Luke hopped out of the bushes, ran up to the garage and quietly shut the door behind Bobby. Then, using the broom, he slid it through the handles, trapping him. 

Luke fumbled getting his phone out and he started a live on Instagram. Even though it was late, he saw the viewers file in. He attributed to people logging on thinking it was another ‘Luke Patterson Gone Wild’ moment.

He flipped the camera to face him, and he made a shushing gesture. The comments blowing up his screen marked the viewers confusion. He wiggled his eyebrows and people were catching on to something big about to happen. 

Then he turned it back to the garage. 

Oh god, he wished he could see what was happening. 

But hearing it happen would have to do for now.

He pressed his ear against the door, and Bobby’s faint ‘Hello?’ echoed through the empty garage. He had already checked the stereo at this point, realizing that it wasn’t turned on, that the garage had no power. 

But then, the music shifted, now subtle rustling noises and whispers from the Halloween sound effects Youtube video Julie had pulled up. 

It perfectly set up the spooky ambiance.

Luke had the front facing camera on him once more, thinking that his reactions for now would hook people into the stream for the big reveal. 

He had done it just in time as a cartoonish cackle broke through followed by Bobby’s high pitched screech. Hand to his mouth, he struggled to keep his laugh inside but his whole body was shaking in amusement at the ungodly noise that came out of Bobby’s mouth. 

He spared a glance at some of the comments:

** Sunset.swerve2004 ** _: OMG what is that???_

**Nick-elodeon.D-E:** _Was that BOBBY??_

**Tutu_girl287** _: Someone’s dying. Wtf._

Then the doors shook. Bobby was desperately trying to leave, and the bluetooth speaker was reaching its max at this point, but now, a voice rose above all the sounds, even surpassing Bobby’s loud freakout over the doors. 

_“We know what you did, Bobby,”_ That was Julie. Using the voice modulator to sound octaves deeper than her normal voice. 

Luke could hear Bobby frantically tugging on the doors some more, “Oh, no, no, no. Let me go!”

The plan didn’t call for drawing out this torture for very long, so Luke had his hand on the broom handle, ready to enact phase 2. 

“Alright,” he whispered to the now 1k people on his live, “I should just do what he says, right?”

He winked before releasing the broom from its hold and hurried down the driveway, now having the camera directed at the garage door. 

“LET. ME. GO-” 

And the doors burst open as Bobby ran through. 

But not fast enough.

Green ooze came crashing down on his person, drenching his hair, clothes- everything. The tub narrowly missed his head. Fear transformed into disgust and Bobby was palming through the thick, shapeless blob that was his hair. 

But oh no. It didn’t end there. The cherry on top was since Bobby was gearing up to get the hell out of there, his foot shot out and met the now slippery driveway. His legs caught serious air, splayed out before he landed on his butt. Hard. 

And Luke caught it all on his phone. 

“What a special treat for our viewers,” he announced, making his presence known, “We see a wild Bobby in his natural habitat, just as sleazy as ever!” 

That was the cue for Reggie and Julie to emerge from the garage so they could bear witness to Bobby’s literal fall from grace. 

“That’s what you get, thief!” Reggie whooped while Julie had her arms crossed, a satisfied smirk on her face. 

Bobby parted the curtain of hair sticking to his face to finally take in his tormentors. His head kept doing a double take between Luke and Reggie and Julie, eyes wide and mouth formed in an surprised ‘O’. 

“This is for stealing my songs, Reggie’s van, and being an all around dick!”

Luke held his phone, getting up into Bobby’s face. They other guy spat the slime at him.

Then all of the sudden Bobby whirled around, struggling to get to his feet. Gone was the shame, quickly replaced with fury as he casted a scathing glare at Julie. 

“You!” he fixated, as if she was solely to blame. 

Julie stumbled back as Bobby advanced on her. 

_Oh hell no._

The sight got Luke’s blood boiling. Streaming forgotten, he dropped his phone and hauled Bobby by the shirt collar, and both zipped along the slime, crashing onto each other in a tangled heap on the ground. 

Julie screamed and tried to rush to his aid, but Reggie held her back. 

Luke and Bobby were rolling around on the ground, fighting to get the upper hand. For a moment, he was able to get on top of Bobby and wrapped the guy up into a disarming chokehold, long enough to say:

“Guys, run!” 

Reggie had already gone into the garage, gathering up the tools, forgoing the extension cord running through the window. Only Julie remained, frozen, “Luke!” 

“Take everything and run!” he urged before positions changed and Bobby was now towering over Luke. 

He couldn’t check to see if Julie had heed his warning, his vision filled with Bobby’s menacing demeanor. Any remnants of the guy he had been friends with for all these years couldn’t be found on his face. Only hate. 

_“You’re so dead, Patterson!”_

Luke winced, his head choosing the wrong moment to remind him of his concussion, waves of pain encasing his whole cranium. Bobby seemed to recognize this and for a moment, he saw some humanity in him. But then he only drove Luke’s head further into the pavement. He let out a cry. 

He tried to fight, but when it came to the battle of might, Bobby was stockier than him, able to overpower Luke easily by pressing his weight on him like how he was doing now. So Luke could only do what he did best. Use his words. 

“Rather be dead than be what you are!” he barked, even with a hand trapping his head. 

There. His last form of resistance, but he knew that there was no walking out of here in one piece. 

Bobby raised his free hand, curling into a fist, and Luke shut his eyes. 

“Yo Bobby,”

The two boys’ heads turned sharply at Julie on the end of the driveway, presumably having helped Reggie escape.

She marched up to the brawling duo, sleeves rolled up, “Kiss this!” 

“Wha-?” A fist collided with Bobby’s mouth before he could finish, sending him flying backwards and he collapsed onto the ground. 

Luke scurried to rest on his elbows, staring at Bobby’s unresponsive form on the concrete, stunned. 

“Holy-!” Julie shrilled, clutching her hand. 

He couldn’t speak, the shock overtaking him that Julie had to forgo her own pain to jar him onto his feet. Luke could feel her hands snaking under his armpits, coaxing him to stand, “Get up. Up up up.” 

Eventually, Luke did, pocketing his phone not too far away from where he fell and leaning against Julie as they booked it down the driveway.

Julie angled their bodies in the direction of her place when something from across the street stopped Luke.

“Dammit. My parents room-” The lights were on. Not good. They were never up this late. The commotion at Bobby’s must have roused them from their peaceful slumber. 

Julie changed course instantly, “We gotta get you home-” 

They maintained a brisk place, considering they were both tingling from their bout with Bobby, they couldn’t run. But they did the best they could. 

Luke kept looking over his shoulder, “Is he following us?” 

Julie checked, shaking her head, “Oh god. I, like, really, knocked him out.” she buried her head against his shoulder, almost embarrassed. 

“You did! You freakin’ Mayweathered him, Jules!” 

“Yeah…,” she panted, “I guess I finally got my revenge.” 

Luke grinned at her, “That you did,” 

She tried to take them up the front door, but Luke, after finally getting his bearings, forced them to go round the back. They hid themselves along the walls and crawled under the windows until they reached the trellis leading up to his room. 

He hopped on, fingers hooking into the diamond-shaped spaces. 

“Luke!” she chastised. 

“You’ll make sure I won’t fall, won’t you, Jules?” 

He stared down at her still on the ground. Her opposition fell way once realizing there was no other option to get to his room before his mom found out he had left. 

She shook her head, “Would never dream of it. Not on my watch.”

Despite the cold slime chilling his skin, Julie’s words felt like a promise, and it was enough to envelope him in a kind of warmth that was akin to home.

And from what he saw tonight, she had been just as willing to protect him just as he was for her. 

He tried to make light of the situation, not wanting to drown in his feelings at a time like this, 

“Well, technically I was still under your watch the last time-,” 

He felt an impatient push on his butt, “Keep climbing!” 

It was more difficult to climb the trellis this time around, his fingers sliding out at various points due to him covered in slime. He had to remind himself to hose off the garden structure before his mom noticed the green. 

With Julie’s help, they made it into his room. 

Soft slippered footsteps could be heard out in the hallway, and in a flash Luke shucked off his clothes, not caring if Julie was there to witness. In fact, Julie had taken the initiative, grabbing a random shirt from the floor and toweling off the slime from his hair while he had stripped down to his boxers.

He could hear his mom coming close to his room. No time for pants. 

“Hide,” he ordered, “Under my bed,” Julie made to cross the room when all of the sudden they heard a knock and the turn of the knob.

“Wait!” he whispered, and she immediately pressed herself against the wall in between the door and his closet right before Luke’s mom popped her head through. 

Luke rushed to the door, keeping it from swinging it further, and he pretended to greet his mom as if recently coming out of slumber. 

“Hey, Mom?” 

“Luke? What are you doing up?” 

“Uh… I should ask you the same thing,” He deflected. 

“I heard some racket across the street, and I just-” 

“And you thought I had something to do with it?” Luke regretted the accusatory tone the moment he said the words. 

His mom’s face dropped, and he was insanely guilty, “No, no, no” she amended, clearly making the effort to not expect the worse from her son anymore, which made Luke want to punish himself on her behalf.

“It woke me up. Was just trying to check in on you.” 

“Okay. Well, I’m okay. Fine, even,” 

“Are you?” She tried to push her way into the room so she could examine him, but Luke kept a firm foot against the door, so she wouldn’t discover Julie. 

“Why won’t you let me open the door?” 

“Uh, it’s just uh. It’s jammed. I can fix it in the morning,” 

“It is not. What are you going on-” She budged it open slightly, to reveal Luke only clad in his boxers. He immediately hid his body against the door, only sticking his head out. 

“Oh,” his mom uttered. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, “Oh?”

Now his mom’s eyes were everywhere but on him, a tight smile on her face.

“Erm… sweetie, you don’t… uh, have to explain any more. I understand that you’re a teenage boy and everything and you need privacy to, um… take care of certain things...” 

Luke’s face burned at the insinuation. But how could he refute it? He was in his boxers, his hair disheveled from Julie drying the slime off, refusing his mom entry into his room? It could only look one way. 

“What? Mom, no. It’s not. It’s not what you think-” 

“We should have gotten you a lock for your door, I know, I know. You’re right. I mean, ever since that last time-” 

“Mom!” 

He snuck a look at Julie, whose eyes were as big as saucers, clearly hearing every word. 

_This was not happening. This can not be happening right now._

“I’ll leave you… to it. But get some sleep,” His mom bid him goodnight and Luke slammed his door closed, leaning against it.

Giggling. He could hear giggling coming from that one side of the room. And he wanted to die. 

“Not one word,” he brushed past her, refraining from making eye contact and taking out a clean pair of pajama pants from his drawer. The giggling continued, “It’s not funny, Jules.” 

“It kinda is,” she countered, her hand to her face, covering up her amusement, “You’ve been wondering how you could get your mom off your back. Well…” 

He made the mistake of turning around to face her after pulling his pants on, and her teasing stare was enough to make suffer through another round of embarrassment. He hated being without a shirt, she could see his whole body turning into a full on tomato, 

“Don’t even- don’t even look at me. You should have let Bobby pound my face into the pavement. Way better alternative to this humiliation.”

God decided to humble him after what they pulled at Bobby’s. Great. 

“Aww, Luke,” She handed him a fresh shirt. He snatched it up and put it on, “Hey, it’s totally ok.” 

“I would really not like to talk about this right now. Or ever…” 

“Okay, but just tell me which sock it is so I don’t step on it-” 

“Jesus-” 

Julie gave one last laugh before granting him mercy. She went to his desk and picked up his glass of water and offered it to him. 

He drank it all, wiping his mouth off after. Julie thought to give him some privacy to recover from his blunder, and busied herself with her phone. 

“Luke!” she read off the missed message on her screen, as he plopped onto his bed, “They got it!” 

“The van? That’s awesome!” 

“Flynn said she’ll tell us the full story later, but they’re bringing it in now. Gonna park it at mine and we’ll get to use it for BandSlam tomorrow,” 

“Nice,”

Luke wished they had reconvened at the Molinas afterwards. To see the look on Reggie’s face when he heard about his van would have been quite the sight. He could imagine the bassist jumping for joy, drawing in Rose and Carlos for the ride. 

Tonight had been a success. 

Julie, after gauging Luke’s embarrassment level, settled next to him on the bed, “I wish you could go,” 

“Me too. I’ll catch it online though,” 

“Won’t be the same,” 

“Best I could do at this point,” 

“Not having you on stage with me. I’m still getting used to it,” 

“You’ll be fine,” he nudged her, “You’re a superstar, Julie Molina,” 

“Yeah. Duh,” she laughed, “But I’ll… I’ll be thinking about you the whole time.” 

Luke swallowed, “Really?”

Julie’s megawatt smile graced her face for the second time that night. 

“Hey, how about I do a little signal tomorrow. During our performance, an inside joke between you and me?” 

“Like a hand gesture?” 

“Yeah. Like this,” Julie held her two palms up, tipped them to the side and had moved them towards each other so the thumbs were touching. 

“A butterfly?” 

She flapped her palms, “Yep.” 

Luke found it cute. It was gonna be tough for her to do a two handed gesture on stage while performing, so he made sure to keep his eye out in the beginning and the end for that butterfly. The one meant for only him. 

“I should get going,” 

“Yeah, you need your rest,” 

He accompanied her to the window. Julie was about to bend over and climb out when she spun around on her heel. 

“I love what we have!” she blurted out. 

The outburst startled him, but he rolled with it. 

“Yeah? Uh, me too,” 

“Luke...what I was going to say earlier before we got interrupted...” She started, nervously, “It’s just I don’t even know how I feel about you. Or if I feel for you like that. I have so much to sort out. And you do too. With all of this concussion stuff, the Bobby, thing. The one thing I know for certain is that your friendship is so valuable to me.” 

He smiled, “I understand. It’s just all happening so fast. Too much going on right now, I totally agree,” 

“You’re not… upset?” 

“No. I’m glad, actually. We’re finally clearing the air,”

Luke finally got some clarity tonight. Hours ago, he may have not taken this news very well, but after all they had been through tonight, and what Rose had said- he was very much invested in Julie no matter in what capacity. He was relieved to not be awkward around her anymore. 

Well, if he would exclude that… um… little incident with his mom, then yeah. Awkward-free. 

He didn’t expect her to suddenly have feelings for him, especially when she was still closing the chapter of Nick. So, yeah… he was okay with this. This may have been the talk he needed to put his year old crush to rest.

He had said he wanted to be with Julie, but the fact of the matter was, he already was with her. The kind of relationship where it had them both punching the same guy for the other person was already too good to pass up. 

“So, friends it is, then?” His socked foot tagged hers, playfully. 

She tagged back, “Best friends.” Julie was out onto the roof now, still looking at him, “Goodnight, Luke. I’ve had fun tonight.” 

“I did too. All things considered,” 

She pressed her hands to her cheeks, “You have your voice back.” she said with awe and his heart stuttered at the sight. 

“Yeah, I do. That’s all thanks to you,” 

“You would have done the same for me,” She looked down, “You have already done it for me.”

Rose’s words came back to him. That Julie hadn’t started singing again until she had moved here. He had wondered since then, had he been the first person she had sung for?

The timid ‘Rhiannon’ that flowed out of her when he shook her hand- had it really been him that got her to reconnect with her passion? Her voice? 

This girl. She was making it so hard not to have feelings for her. 

But he was going to try. 

Because he loved her that much. 

Wait.

Hold up. 

_Did I just-?_

Oh no.

 _I love her._

Crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go! Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I know nothing about rigging slime so don't fault me for writing it the way that I did. Haha.


	18. Second Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke suffers from a writer's block of sorts and completely spirals

Chapter 18 ‘Second Thoughts’ 

“Oh come on! Not this again!” 

Launching his pencil across the room, Luke had to force himself to stop writing. 

His eyes were drawn to yet another cursed page of his journal. Skimming through the passage, he was horrified at what he had produced. 

Swiftly, he tore the paper off its binding, and in a moment of madness, stuffed it in his mouth. 

And being the stubborn person he was, he chewed it up until it was pulp and swallowed it. 

Tasted gross. Like the complete garbage he had written all over it. 

And what had he written exactly that warranted such a creative method of disposal? 

Another gooey proclamation of his relentless love for a certain curly-haired wrecking ball of talent. 

Yeah. He had been going a _little_ crazy holed up at home for the past few weeks. 

Luke had sorta… come to a sort of epiphany, the night of Bobby’s ghostly prank, the night before BandSlam. 

BandSlam had come and gone, and needless to say the band had totally killed it. 

Luke had been able to catch it on the livestream. Although he had to hide his phone from his mom.

It hadn’t been the right time to use it yet- doctor’s orders. But he figured watching his friends give the performance of their lives would end his illustrious streak of disobeying the doctor’s orders.

(Pretty sure the doctor had strongly advised against scaling buildings, getting his ass kicked, and professing a year’s worth of feelings to your best friend… and he had managed to do all of that in one night. What an overachiever he was.) 

And true to her word, Julie had sent him their signal (the butterfly gesture) before and after the performance, and he had broken out into a huge smile every time. Just knowing that she had been up there, thinking about him, making sure he knew that she was thinking about him…

Okay, okay- he could _not_ get into that right now- or else he would get a repeat of the aforementioned psychotic break. 

But yeah, it had been some weeks and several gigs later for the band, and Luke had yet to pick up his guitar. 

It hadn’t been as bad as he thought being stuck at home for the first week into his recovery. He and his parents had been getting on pretty well (and Luke tried not to think about how it may be because he was not currently doing music stuff). 

Like they were able to talk and it didn’t turn into fights. They were doing more stuff together as a family. Luke had even taken up knitting again and would often find himself after dinner in a chair next to his mom, working in a comfortable silence. 

(Yeah, Luke Patterson, rockstar guitarist extraordinaire knits with his mom. So what?) 

It had only gotten better as time went on and he had been gradually granted to do more and more activities.

Silent knitting had transitioned into knitting while _Wheel of Fortune_ was on. He was able to use his phone again to scroll mindlessly through his socials, and he could listen to music in his room again. 

He had been able to go on runs now, even allowed to come over to his friends’ places though not for too long (and never during band practice- his mom feared the volume would cause more headaches), but eventually, he had been able to get back into writing without it getting too much for him. 

That was when things took a turn for the worse.

(And by the way, it _had_ gotten too much for him- just in a different way than expecting). 

Ever since it had become clear that his feelings for Julie had evolved past an intense crush to an even more intense… well, how to put this… _infatuation?_ He had spent all of his creative energy trying to stomp it down and squash those feelings like a bug. 

Huh. A love bug… he thought bitterly. 

Luke was never one to hide from his feelings, at least not until Julie came into his life and everything became about hiding those certain feelings from said girl. 

But now more than ever that he needed to get rid of them. 

The night he had come to terms with being in love with Julie Molina was the same night she had told him that she liked what they had- their friendship. 

And after finding out about Julie’s life before moving to L.A- her not having a solid group of friends, her mom getting sick, almost giving up music- 

And after witnessing first hand how a series of turbulent changes- like joining a band, getting rejected, and finding out her best friend had been crushing on her for a year- could do to her…

Luke would not jeopardize one of the few stable things in her life by harboring these heightened feelings for her, in fear that he would eventually crack and act on them. 

Honestly, he had been surprised that he hadn’t yet. He had slipped a couple times, but never… never as blatant as throwing caution to the wind and kissing her. 

_That_ had been on Julie. 

Okay, now he was thinking about it again and he couldn’t and _shouldn’t_ do that!

So, in lieu of his guitar, Luke had been expressing himself through words, hoping that if he was able to jot down his feelings then maybe it would be some sort of emotional exorcism. 

Yeah, that had failed. Miserably. 

A small paragraph about Julie would turn into an essay just like that. And just when he had thought that was the end of it, he only flipped the page and continued on another Julie-related rant. 

About her voice- her beautiful, powerhouse of a voice that brought him to his knees… like how she said his name should be illegal, goddamn- 

The way her hand was just the right size and shape to hold without it getting uncomfortable after long periods of time…

Her unwavering loyalty for those she loved… how he felt protected having her in his corner… making him feel like… he was deserving of such grace, such devotion-

Oh god, he was so devoted to her that it wasn’t even funny anymore. 

It had never been funny, actually. 

It had been _agony._

He had even tried to take a break to write some new songs, to at least have something prepared once he rejoined the band, but they all alluded to Julie in some way shape or form and that was a huge no no.

Like he could not have the girl that he was pining over sing that in _their_ band. 

It had gotten so bad that every word he would write was about Julie. Him and Julie- and all the ways he could ever say ‘I love you’. 

It had gotten so bad that he had to rope his dad into it to help him fix this. 

His dad was an English professor at a university. 

Mitch Patterson had been ecstatic to learn that his son had taken up interest in writing when he was younger. The enthusiasm, however, died out quick when it had become clear that Luke would only use his talents for songs rather than producing top notch papers for school. 

Normally, Luke wouldn’t approach his dad for advice about writing, not sure if they’d vibe on a similar level for him to understand what he was trying to say. Or how to put it to music. 

But he was desperate and needed something else to write about. Literally anything else. 

His dad had a colleague who taught a poetry workshop in the fall and had assigned him prompts and formats he normally would have his students do. 

Luke had started off with something easy. 

Some freeform stuff, just write about what he saw outside. 

Right, he had remembered thinking whilst he observed from his bedroom window, there’s the trees, the old tool shed that definitely seen better days- 

Just the faintest outline of Julie’s house piercing through the canopy of the trees in the yard that separated his family’s and hers… 

He had vaguely recalled his train of thought getting so totally derailed from ‘outside’ to ‘Julie’s house’. And the next thing he knew, he was riding that train for several stops- ‘Julie’s house’ then to ‘Julie’s room’ then to ‘Julie in her room’ to ‘Julie sitting in front of her vanity’- 

-before reaching the destination that was five pages about Julie’s smile and what it did to him. 

He had ripped it out of his journal and simply tossed it in the trash. 

Like a fool. 

Because that had only made it easy for him to reach in, place the pages on the desk, and _revise_ his tirade to see what could be salvaged into a song. 

Thus ‘Wicked Beauty’ had been born. 

And had been acquainted with his dad’s shredder shortly after. 

(Luke had been strongly against destroying songs before all this, but that one must never see the light of day…. Imagine ‘Perfect Harmony’ but 10x worse and with more outdated ‘90s slang woven in there. And ‘gnarly’ should _not_ be a word used to describe any facial feature...)

The shredder should have been the turning point. Like, extracting his feelings from the heart, slapping it onto the page, and making it _tangible_ , made it all the more easy to actually, physically get rid of those feelings. 

Shredding them. 

Tearing it up with his bare hands. 

Submerging them in water until it was pulp. 

Only for him to start over again and write more to make up for what he destroyed. 

When the initial poetry lesson clearly hadn’t worked, Luke begged his dad for some more structure, not wanting to leave his mind to its own devices again. He had received a book detailing different forms of poetry and the task to write strictly within one format. 

One day, he had cracked open the book, flipped to the page about tanka poetry, which was pretty much like a tricked out haiku from what he gathered, and got to work. 

The first line asked for 5 syllables:

 _‘JU·LIE MO·LI·NA’_ his heart had supplied. 

_‘YOU’RE AN ID·I·OT’_ his mind had reminded. 

_‘GO TO THE KIT·CHEN’_ his stomach had pleaded. 

Christ. He had needed help. 

And a sandwich. 

(He had only received the latter, but his stomach remained in a constant state of topsy-turviness that no amount of PB&Js could combat- Was this what butterflies on crack feels like?)

Someone needed to take his journal away from him, before there were no more pages left to write in. (Most of them have been pulverized by the shredder or dissolved by his stomach acid anyway). 

Giving up, Luke stormed out of his room in need of release, since writing was only doing more to incite his mania...

Luckily his mom was already in the living room, watching _Rachel Ray_ and knitting up a storm. He plopped down on his dad’s arm chair, reached into their yarn basket and pulled out his needles so he could join her. 

Knitting was calming for him, much like how writing had been before all of this. Like one of the few things that could make him sit still and be in the moment.

Just scooping loops and creating stitches had become second nature to him, but it could be so mesmerizing to watch it all form into a scarf or blanket or what have you. 

He was trying to pick up where he left off from last time- a beanie. Much like the ones he would wear, but he wanted to give it a shot and maybe get ideas for a future Christmas present. 

(He would not rest until he had converted every single one of his friends into the ‘Beanie Brigade’). 

“Finally out of your room, I see,” 

“Yeah, mom,” Those words would have normally ignited some sort of argument, but Luke recognized that it only stemmed from a place of concern, “I’ve emerged from my cave.” 

“That’s good. But you know you can see your friends too. It’s not like you’re trapped here, sweetie,” 

He knew that, but he honestly hadn’t been in the right mindset lately to go to his friends. He was normally an extroverted type of person, but with it, he had become so susceptible to a terrible case of FOMO that it was just… weird to talk to his friends- his band-sometimes since he hadn’t been able to make rehearsals or see them at gigs. 

He wasn’t jealous per se. Just kind of bummed about all the inside jokes and references that had gone over his head the various times they would come over or when he would visit them. 

“Kinda in a weird place right now,” 

“You’re not fighting with anyone are you?” 

He shook his head, “In a bit of a disconnect. Because I haven’t been playing…” 

“Well,” her mother cocked her head to the side, “How long has it been since you’ve been in the hospital?” 

“2 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 28 minutes and 44 seconds?” Luke rattled off, bs-ing the latter, “But who’s counting? _48, 49, 50..._ ” 

“And your head’s been feeling better?” 

“Yeah, it’s been good.” 

He heard his mom hum to herself, considering something. 

“I suppose… since the doctor also said it should be okay by now…. I guess it’s alright for you to play again-” 

Luke set down his needles (carefully), already running to his mom, kneeling in front of her, _“Really?”_

“Yes,” 

“You’re not messing with me?” 

She laughed, shaking her head fondly at him, “No. I am not. You can play again. Starting tomorrow. But hold off on a gig until we make another visit to the doctor to check if it’s okay”

Luke whooped and tackled her in a hug, “Hey, hey, hey!” she warned, pushing him away, “I’m working on your birthday present right here.”

He peered over at the blue mass of yarn hanging off her needles, “Ooh, what is it?” 

“It’s a surprise. Now go and shoo off to your corner, young man and work on your hat,” 

“Alright, alright,” he backed up until he was in the chair, knitting again, “I will find out eventually! My birthday is coming up soon anyway.” 

He was so gonna tell his friends the good news in the group after this!

Like, alright, things were looking up! He was gonna catch up on the guitar, gonna be with his band again- he could feel he was getting his mojo back. The funk he had been in was starting to be put in the past- he might actually move forward- 

Then the doorbell rang and his mom went to go answer the door. 

“Julie! What a lovely surprise,” 

_Julie?_

His fingers slipped. And a stitch came loose. 

_“Dammit!”_

Emily Patterson’s head snapped up and she scowled at her son, “Lucas Theodore! Language!” 

“Sorry mom,” Luke let the needles fall onto his lap, as Julie stepped inside, “it’s just... I dropped a stitch.” 

“It’s alright. We can still fix it,” she assured, heading back to the couch after letting the love of Luke’s life into his house without warning. 

“We can?” 

“Yeah, just gotta use a crochet needle. That’s what my grandma does,” Julie said, inspecting the damage. 

“That’s correct. Afternoon, Julie,” 

“Hey Mrs. P,” she bent over, squinting at his handiwork, “Watcha workin’ on, Luke?” 

“Supposed to be a hat,” He held up what was almost a perfect patch, “I swear I’ve made good ones in the past.” 

“You’re just out of practice,” 

“So.." he cleared his throat, "uh what brings you here?” 

She shrugged, “It’s been a while since we hung out. Just wanted to see you.” 

“Oh,” he said lamely, doing his best to remain composed. But his mom eying the two of them from her place on the couch did not help. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t hung out with Julie since the night of revelations. He had seen her a bunch of times, all of which had been normal. He hadn’t acted weird and neither did she. 

But this was the first time that he had been alone with just her, and he worried that without the group there keeping him in check, then he might start acting out. 

He rose and placed his project back in the basket, “Alright, I think that’s enough knitting for one day. Wanna head to my room?” 

“Yeah sure,” she smiled, following him down to his room but not before calling back to his mom, “You’re totally nailing that basket weave stitch by the way, Mrs. P!” 

“Why thank you, Julie. And how many times, do I need to tell you, you can call me Emily?” 

“Maybe just one more time, mom. Then it would get through to her head,” Julie smacked him on the shoulder, “Hey!” 

She rolled her eyes before entering his room and sitting on his bed. 

He closed the door (which now had a lock) and rested against it, “So, watcha really come by for?” 

“Can’t I just visit my best friend?”

He raised an eyebrow. 

“Ugh. Fine,” she blew out a raspberry before falling on her back, making herself comfortable on the bed, “My aunt’s over and I’m hiding.” 

He grimaced, aware of how much of a _delight_ her Tía Victoria was, “You could stay as long as you want.” 

“You’re a lifesaver!” She exclaimed, pulling out her phone, “Texting my dad right now. Letting him now to tell my tia that I’m running errands and won’t be back until late.” 

“He wouldn’t get mad?” 

“He’s only mad that he didn’t think of it first,” 

Luke sat at the foot of the bed while Julie was fully reclined on his bed, head on his pillow and everything, hair splayed out, looking up at him with half-lidded eyes. 

Oh boy. 

Forcing himself not to _react_ at that visual, he told her the good news. Might as well. 

And thank god too because she sprang up from her horizontal position, face brightened up and she pulled him in for a hug, “Yes, yes, yes! Finally!” 

“C’mon, Jules, it wasn’t so terrible without me, right?” he laughed. 

She withdrew, “It was good. We’re good, but it’s not the same without you. We’ve really missed having you over at the studio.” 

“Why? I’ve been going to the studio...” 

“You know what I mean. Jamming with us,” 

“Not long now,” he shot a look over at his six-string collecting dust in the corner, “I’m gonna be so rusty when I pick it up.” 

“Mwahaha,” Julie rubbed her hands together, almost like how a supervillain would, “While _you_ get weaker, _I_ become stronger. Check this out.”

And she went for his guitar and brought it back on the bed. And Luke could not get over how she could just… do that.

She had to be the only person on this earth who, without permission, could pick up his guitar- his pride and joy- and to do so, still with a Doofenshmirtz-level playful scowl on her face. 

He folded his legs up onto the bed and he listened to her play a slowed down version of ‘Bright’, completed with the notes that he had written out in the tabs he had given her months ago- 

Once she finished he applauded, “You’re getting better!”

And she was. She had made such improvement. Her hold on the strings was stronger than before, and having the tempo be slow made it so she really focused on the sound and- it was practically perfect. 

“I have a good teacher,” 

“Nick?” he joked. 

And he could joke about Nick now in front of Julie. 

From what he had seen, she and Nick are on much better terms now. Not necessarily back to how they were in the beginning of the summer, but Julie was now talking to him when it didn’t come to band-related stuff anymore.

It was something. 

Luke liked to think that by Nick filling in for him in the band, it gave him more opportunities to hang with Julie and to repair that relationship. 

“What are _we_ gonna do about Nick though?” she said, her tone morphing into something serious as she slipped off her shoes. 

“What do you mean?” 

“He’s only meant to be backup, but...” 

Right. Once Luke was back in. Then that meant Nick was out. 

He hadn’t thought about it that way. Like it hadn’t occurred to him what was going to happen. 

“You guys totally slayed BandSlam and every gig since then,” he said, “And… He’s kind of already made a name for himself in the group. People associate him with _Sunset Curve_ now...” 

“Well… there’s always a need for a rhythm guitarist. Heard the last one didn’t work out,” she suggested, returning the guitar to its stand. 

The air in the room grew heavy at the mention of their previous rhythm guitarist. 

Luke hadn’t heard anything from Bobby since they had humiliated him on his live. Since then, he had been gifted the night vision camera that had the rest of the footage his live didn’t capture. 

He had yet to upload that footage. 

For some reason he couldn’t do it. Maybe he thought it had been overkill. The guy had already been scared, slimed, and clocked in the face after all. 

And the whole incident of what had happened at the party between him and Julie had already been enough to brand him as a total creep and no one ever wanted to be associated with him anymore… 

Like it was pouring a bucket of water on a drowning man at this point. 

Although, the thought of him laying a kiss on a tipsy Julie made him want to straight up murder him in his sleep. Like forget the whole song theft- that was just a terrible, sleazy thing to do. 

But Julie had already maintained that her knocking him out was already satisfying and that was the furthest she would ever take her revenge. And he respected that. 

“He hasn’t been causing you any more trouble, has he?” he had to ask because Bobby only lived across the street from them… it was only a matter of time before he could strike again. 

“No. Mom made sure of that, remember?” 

Oh yes. He did. 

One of the few times he had been able to swing by the Molinas’ was when Luke and everyone else bore witness to Rose being the badass mom that she was. 

“Frankly, Gretchen I’m not sure I know what you are talking about..” They had eavesdropped from the living room while she had been on the phone with Bobby’s mom a couple days since the prank. 

“Uh huh. Uh huh. I see, so my daughter… and the boys… and some ‘phantom’ scared your son?” 

Willie and Reggie had stifled their laughs while Carlos kept banging his closed fist against his knee in glee. The rest of them were silently freaking out at the possibility of getting found out. 

There had been some talking on the other line, “You said it was one ‘phantom’, now you’re saying two?” 

Luke could tell that Rose would be definitely rolling her eyes at this exaggeration, no doubt concocted by Bobby to make the situation way worse than it was, but still denying any part of the scheme. 

Then there might have been something that Bobby’s mom had said that pissed Rose off. And gone was her courteous tone, replaced with a stern one, borderline murderous, 

“Boundaries?” she scoffed, “You want to talk boundaries? Are you aware that your son had completely disregarded _my_ daughter’s boundaries and assaulted her at a party?” 

Julie had squirmed in her seat on the couch and Flynn had grabbed hold of her hand to steady her. 

“...Oh yes, I bet your son did not mention _that_ . I think you should get the story straight before you call me and start accusing _my_ family without any proof…” 

Luke remembered how everyone present had straightened up when she said that. 

_Her family._

Everyone had been involved, including Willie in some sort of way. And Nick, even though he had been home, had been tuning in on the live show and made sure that any screen recordings didn’t spread too far. 

Reggie and Alex shared an unreadable glance, most likely stunned that they were referred to as such. 

Yet none of them could really deny it, pranking Bobby had felt like a family affair. 

“...why yes, I will make sure Julie and her ‘Phantoms’ would not cause any more trouble to you or your son. Hope you have a _lovely_ day.” 

They all had jumped when they heard the phone get slammed down on the receiver, followed by a string of, what Luke assumed, were curses in Spanish. 

(Julie had covered Carlos’ ears at this part, so… educated guess.)

“Your mom is literally the coolest,” he stated, recalling how she covered for them. 

Julie rolled her eyes, settling onto his bed once more, “And there it is again.” 

“What?” 

“You, like, lowkey simp over my mom,” 

“Ew. Don’t say that. That sounds gross!” 

“What? It’s true!” she shuddered, bringing the neckline of her sweatshirt up to her chin, “Makes me uncomfortable.” 

Okay, _maybe_ he could see where Julie was coming from. 

She might have been referring to a certain time when they had all convinced her mom to show off her guitar playing during one band rehearsal, and then had proceeded to utterly lay waste to the studio and melting their faces off with the most punk version of ABBA’s ‘Rock Me’ he had ever heard. 

His mouth might have dropped. And he might have been drooling. 

But that had been purely from a guitarist, musician standpoint. 

“Why? Jealous?” he smirked, nudging her with his elbow. Her response only made him more amused. 

She made retching noises, “No, cuz it’s my mom you moron!” 

Julie opened her mouth to say more, probably something along the lines of ‘You really have a type, do you, Patterson?’, knowing her- but she stopped herself. 

Yeah… Luke wouldn’t have known how to handle how to respond to that. Still unsure of how to… talk about his crush with the object of his affections… 

Like yeah, he could see himself joking about it later on when it was in the past, long behind him. 

But it wasn’t over. Far from it… 

“I just fanboy over your mom and her killer band! That’s it!” he continued, pushing for more teasing and less ‘I’ still hung up on you’ vibe, “Don’t worry. You’re my favorite Molina.”

(Right as if _that_ phrase wasn’t enough of an opportunity for this conversation to take a turn, he mentally berated himself.)

Julie only lowered her voice and brought a finger to her lips, “I won’t tell Carlos.”

“Nah, that’s Reggie’s favorite,” 

Julie gasped in mock offense, “ _I’m_ not Reggie’s favorite? How dare he?” 

“Scratch that. Ray’s his favorite,” 

“Okay, I can’t even be mad at that,”

“Alright, who’s _your_ fav-?” 

“Flynn,” she declared. 

“No, like out of the band-” 

“Flynn,” she repeated. 

“Right. But I mean out of the guys-” 

“Oh, Alex. No contest,” 

“Hey!” he threw a pillow at her, which she dodged. 

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding. Alex is- great. Reggie is too. And so is Nick,” she kicked him gently on the knee, “Come on, it’s you. It’s always been you.” 

Her foot stilled, tucked under his knee, marking the moment Julie realized what she had just said. 

The words that had been spoken in this very room… his own words- 

Clearly she hadn’t meant to bring it up, and making Luke feel like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of his lungs. 

Her eyes were casted down on her lap, and she moved her legs further from Luke’s seated form, as if she had crossed a boundary that she wasn’t meant to cross. 

And as much as Luke wanted to put some distance between them too, to run and cower to the other side of the room until it was safe to be, well, _them_ again, he had let days go by in a similar state of awkwardness, where they didn’t talk and everything was off- and that had been hell for both of them. 

He needed to be the one to say he was okay- that this was okay… even though inside, all he could think about was how badly he wanted Julie to mean those words in the same way he had- with all the yearning and tenderness and even the voice crack- overcome with the potency of emotions. 

Reaching over, he tickled her socked feet, triggering a giggle and snort from the girl against her better wishes, effectively shifting the mood back. 

And to really hammer it home, Luke went for his bedside drawer and brought out his retro Sony headphones and dual headphone adapter, “You got any new reccs for me?” 

Julie’s smile slowly came back, already taking out her pair of earbuds from her hoodie pocket, “Just a few.” 

“Lay it on me, boss,”

And as they cozied up next to each other on his bed, plugging their headphones into the adapter and not minding their close proximity and their positioning required to listen to Julie’s phone, Luke thought: 

_Thank god for music._

* * *

They had been taking turns listening to each other’s picks for what seemed like hours, with every once in a while Luke’s mom peeking in to ask if they needed anything. 

Luke had to fight back a blush forming on his cheeks every time his mom’s eyes lingered on their apparent closeness on his bed, but she should know that he and Julie weren’t gonna do anything. 

And out of the two of them, Emily Patterson clearly trusted Julie a tad bit more, otherwise she would have opted for an ‘open door policy’... 

But his mom’s constant appearances maybe had influenced his decision of reorienting himself so that he was on the opposite end of the bed, where his head faced Julie’s feet and vice versa.

(As if that was any less strange- Julie kept making faces whenever she got a whiff of his foot… it only egged him on to move it closer to her direction…) 

They were currently listening to _Rina Sawayama_ (not necessarily Luke’s first choice, but Julie had thought he would appreciate the genre fusion with the blatant ‘90s pop influences), but they were actually more invested in the topic of whatever was going on between Nick and Reggie… 

“I knew it. I’m not crazy! There’s something there!” 

Julie had finished recapping the band’s most recent gig at the Hacky Shack, where the mic sharing between their two friends had grown out of control. 

“It’s getting ridiculous,” 

“And like, do they really do that thing? You know from BandSlam?” And Luke did his best, while laying down, to mimic Reggie’s playing, flopping his upper body up and down. 

Although not his best game of charades, Julie squealed, pointing at him, “Yes! The whole back to back playing thing they do! Like yeah- they ‘rehearse’ it all the time.” 

“There’s really no need to rehearse that. You just press your backs against each other and not try not to push the other guy over!” 

“Oh god. Willie was over the day, and I swear the amount of looks that he and Alex give each other could not even top how many times those two were staring at each other,” 

Luke shook his head, propping his upper body on his elbows to look at her, “I’m sorry, like, I’m with you on the whole- DEP train-” 

“DEP?”

“Danforth-Evans-Peters. Keep up, Jules-” 

“-No, that is not their ship name. Not as long as I’m alive and kicking-” 

-“Let me finish. Willie and Alex- _Willex-_ if you will-” 

“-Now _that_ name, I agree with-” 

“I swear to God you’re gonna get real familiar with that duct tape in my desk drawer if you won’t stop interrupting me,” 

Head on his pillow, eyes looking up, she made the gesture of locking up her lips and throwing away the key. 

Cute. 

“Thank you. I’m saying that _Willex-_ you’ve seen them right? How disgustingly cute they are? Alex pouts every time Willie goes to the bathroom,” 

“Totally. Like he leaves and comes back. Sees him pout, and goes,” Now it was Julie’s turn to sit up, only to push her hair to the front, slouch, and wiggle her eyebrows.

“ _‘Why the long face, Hot Dog?_ ’” 

Luke almost rolled off the bed at her Willie impression, like voice and all was so horrendous that he just had to follow up with his impression of their beloved drummer. 

“And Alex would say _‘You left’_ ,” he stuck out his bottom lip and kept switching his gaze between his lap and at Julie, almost shyly- which was so Alex. 

Julie’s lips twitched, wanting so badly to grin but she was trying to maintain her ‘Willie face’, “And Willie would go: _‘I was only gone for five minutes’_ ,” 

“To which Alex would say-” 

_“‘I would have still followed you’”_ They said together, followed by a fit of laughter. 

“I swear that was in a movie,”

“But like yeah they say stuff like that. But… the gaze, Luke!” 

“Yeah,” he frowned, “‘For the girls and the gays’ or whatever Flynn says-” 

She swatted his feet, “The gaze! G-A-Z-E,”

“Ohhh,” 

“No, you gotta understand something, Luke,” she began, lowering herself onto the bed,

“There’s a difference between dating gaze and pining gaze. Pining looks are way more intense, like charged with that whole ‘will they/won’t they’ vibe. Way more obvious, less refined. But the dating looks are more subtle...”

Luke had to suppress a scoff, wondering in what universe Willie and Alex were _subtle._

Julie went on, hands moving about as she tried to explain the concept, “Like, they took the time to take their pining gaze and, I don’t know, modify it? If the pining gaze is a language-” 

“The dating gaze is a dialect. Between those two people,” he finished off, now getting it. 

“I mean, you gotta be subtle right? They’d tease you for everything else you do. And if you’re dating, you’re gonna be looking at each other often- sometimes they go face-blind from it. Not even realizing they do it when they do it, you know?”

Luke turned over so now that he rested on his left shoulder, body fully facing Julie’s, “I’m sorry, but I’m just gonna refer to Reggie and Nick as the ‘Pining Gays’ and _Willex_ as the ‘Dating Gays’ now. Thanks a lot,” 

“Never tell them,” 

Luke contemplated what Julie had said about the ‘dating gaze’ in particular, wondering where she even, how she even came to know this- someone who had never really been in a relationship before. 

“You sound like you’re the expert… on all this,” 

“I pay attention. I’ve seen enough period dramas to know what a longing look looks like,” 

Then the words spilled out, along with his bitterness. “Then how come _you_ never noticed when-?” 

He broke off. 

And he wanted to launch himself into the sun. 

_Patterson, you idiot!_

“Notice-?” Julie started, then it dawned on to her, “Oh...” 

“...yeah,” 

Like sue him for being mildly (majorly) curious on how Julie had the intuition to pick up stuff like ‘pining gazes’ and to read signs from their friends’ relationships but had completely been blind to his ‘heart eyes’ that Reggie claimed that he had. 

He was starting to find Julie’s taco socks interesting all of the sudden, preferring to look at her feet than her face at the moment.

“It’s just… everyone said I’ve been totally obvious...” 

“Well…,” He sensed the bed shift and her breath suddenly beating down on his own feet, “Do you wanna know?” 

He gulped, “Yeah,” 

“I thought I was always able to tell when someone has a crush on me because there’s this kind of shift that happens, when they started treating me differently, trying to get close to me. Like this sort of vibe they give off after they realized they like me,” 

She paused. Then her warm breath carried over, making his toes curl, “You said… you said you liked me the moment we met.” 

“Yeah. Like second thought,”

“First?” 

“How cute you looked in your dinosaur slippers,” 

The foot nearest Luke’s face twitched. She had probably wanted to kick him just for that. 

How was it so easy to have this talk when he was practically speaking to her feet? 

But there must have been something about not seeing each other’s face when they tackled the more sensitive topics of their relationship that made it all the less… scary. 

That must be why Julie would ever brave his foot odor… just so they could get the full picture. 

“There ya go. You liked me from the start. So I couldn’t tell. It threw everything off for me. I just… assumed that’s just how your friendship is,” 

Okay… that actually made sense. 

He had been head over heels for her since Day 1. His lovestruck expression had been his first impression… of course she would think that that was just… his face. 

Like, he would like to think that there was some stuff, gestures that he reserved for her and only her though. Right? 

But Julie was already one step ahead of him, her next response putting into more perspective for him: 

“And also, Luke, you’ve always been affectionate and open. I just thought that was how you are with people. Hell, I thought you, Alex, and Reggie had some sort of throuple thing going on for a second.” 

Right. It certainly hadn’t helped that he was pretty physical when it came to showing his appreciation for his friends.

And piggybacking off the well-known fact that he and the boys found toxic-masculinity stupid, it would be hard to distinguish between touches and gestures that were friendly and those that meant a little more. 

(Hell, he had kissed his boys on more than one occasion. Bobby, included!). 

And Julie had never seen him with another girl- his dating life (or if he could even call it that) had been put on hold after they met. So she had nothing to go off, nothing to compare the looks he would give her to a girl she knew he was interested in. 

Like of course, he treated Flynn differently than he would with Julie. So maybe Julie could get a feel for how he was with girls that were not her- but then again, he rarely hung out with Flynn without Julie there too. And whenever Julie was around, he was, well- 

_No wonder she never found out!_

It felt like the veil had been lifted. He totally understood how it took forever for Julie to pick up the signs- if it had been any other guy, any other circumstances at which they had first met- it would have been a different story. 

His ‘pining gaze’ might as well have been his resting Luke face for all she knew. 

“I’m sorry,” Julie whispered, blaming herself for the lull in the conversation, “did I make it weird?” 

“N-No,” he said, after finding his voice again after that earth-shattering epiphany, “Like, it’s nice that we can just talk about it now. Now that...”

_Now that what? It was over? You don’t have to worry about it anymore? Which was soo not true?_

“..uh… yeah,” he concluded, hoping that she didn’t read too much into his gap in coherent speech… 

“Yeah. I’m...glad too,” she said sincerely… to his socks. 

(They were still doing this… like why?). 

Julie must have shared his musings because she was on her back, a considerable distance from his feet. She cleared her throat, “What you got for me?” 

She tapped at her phone, and it registered that they had been listening to nothing but silence, the song having finished some time ago during their talk. It was his turn. 

“It’s this new band called _Stick Hippo_ , you gotta check it out...”

* * *

Luke awoke to a dim room, _Various Cruelties_ crooning into his ears, and cartoon tacos dancing in front of his face. 

Groaning, he turned over to discover the time from his alarm clock.

Shoot. They had napped past dinner and it was well over 7. He flipped over to Julie’s end of the bed, now trying to shake her awake (first removing the earbuds from her ears). 

“Jules. Jules, come on,” He figured her aunt had already gone home, and her family would be expecting her back soon, “You gotta wake up.” 

“Nooo,” she knocked her head against his chest, eyes still shut and hands covering her ears, wanting him to be quiet so she could continue sleeping. 

“We missed dinner. My mom’s gonna come in here-” 

By this point, her face was buried in his shirt and he felt her mumble something. He could only make out: 

“Door… lock,” 

His eyebrows shot up. 

“Julie…” he warned, refusing to let his mind wander the assumptions his mother would no doubt make if she found the door locked with Julie in his room, “Please?” 

His torso was now too warm as Julie continued to press herself against him, wrapping her arms around him like he was her teddy-bear, refusing to let go. 

“ _Mmm_ stay,” she whispered. 

“Julie-”

 _“Please?”_

She raised her head to look up at him, eyes barely open, hair matted, her facial features soft, compelling Luke to reach out to graze her cheek, clearing stray strands of her hair from her face. She emitted a content noise, the corners of her lips twitching. 

He swore there was nothing more beautiful than what was right in front of him this very second. 

“Ok,” he relented, leaning on his side as Julie rested against him, “Not too long, okay?” 

So they laid there in his bed, and he couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes, unable to rest. 

The girl he loved was in his arms, clutching at his shirt like a lifeline as she drifted in and out of slumber, and all he could do was try to control his breathing, the weight of Julie’s head on his chest a reminder that he shouldn’t as much stutter in his exhales or she would wake… 

He didn’t allow himself to be comfortable, he couldn’t. Even if this was the most peaceful state he had been in a long time… 

Yet, looking at Julie, the lowlight of his alarm clock casting a green glow on her face, he was overcome with that urge, that same urge that made him return her kiss the night of the party, the urge to obliterate everything for that one moment of indulgence- 

His heart ache when struck with an onslaught of thoughts. Oh how he wanted Julie in his arms like this everyday, every night. To be the last thing she saw before dreaming. To be the first one to hear that adorable, groggy voice while she was half-asleep. 

He wanted to kiss her goodnight. Kiss her good morning. 

He wanted to kiss her. 

Now more than ever. 

But he couldn’t. 

“Are you doing it now?” 

Luke angled his head down. She wasn’t sleeping anymore, more of her beautiful brown eyes visible in this low light. She had been watching him but he had been too preoccupied with thoughts of her to see that. 

“Doing what now?” 

Her expression flickered between serenity and… something else. Her fingers were on his face now, the back of her hand lightly skidding against his cheek. The pads of her fingers traced around his brows, his cheek bones, before meeting at the bridge of his nose. 

His eyes closed instinctively, making way for her to tap his eyelids. 

Oh. 

The gaze… 

The pining… 

He opened his eyes, and she was staring back at him curiously, trying to read him. Like a book that she must have pored over countless times, but finding something- something new. 

He licked his lips, mouth too dry, “If you had to ask…” 

And that jarred her more than whatever confession that could have slipped during this vulnerable moment. “Oh.”

They both knew what that meant. 

“Second thought,” Julie said out of the blue, maybe to humor him, her hands traveling down to his cheeks and chin, ‘Wow. He’s shaking my hand so hard’.” 

“Sorry,” He sighed, remembering his tight grip the moment they met. 

He inhaled. Then exhaled. 

“And the first?” 

Her lips parted, scanning him over once more for good measure before saying: 

“‘What a perfect smile’,” 

This girl was going to kill him. He was already dead. He had already stopped breathing. 

But the corners of his lips met his cheeks, and Julie was already poking at them, “Yeah, just like that-” 

Luke jerked backwards, scooching away from her before he… before he made a mistake. 

And he had been so close. Too close. 

“We need to get up now,” He said, already out of bed. 

He tried to blink away the crestfallen expression on Julie’s face, because he was crazy, right? It was the twilight magic of a post-nap, not yet asleep, not yet awake, there wasn’t- like, she couldn’t be as disappointed as he was that this was over. 

Right? 

“Okay,” she said, swinging her legs over to the side and putting her shoes on. 

“It’s just I don’t want your family to-” 

“Yeah. I know,” she mumbled, grabbing her phone and her earbuds and stuffing them in her pocket. She shot him a smile, to take the edge off, “Thanks.” 

“No problem. Lemme, uh, walk you out.” 

And so he did. They hugged at the door. Luckily neither of his parents were in the living room while all of this happened. He couldn’t handle another round of probing stares and even more invasive questions that he himself had yet to find the answers to. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she waved, stepping down the steps, almost tripping. 

He nodded, arms crossed, hands rubbing at his elbows, “Tomorrow.” 

Luke made sure he monitored her until he was sure she had gotten home safe. The second she was out of view and inside her house, he ran back into his room and nearly knocked over his lamp with how reckless he was in trying to switch it on. 

Pen in his hand, he tore open his already worn out journal- 

He needed to curb his feelings _now_. 

This couldn’t happen again. 

He could not- he was not going to confuse Julie again. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t do that to himself. 

These feelings complicated a perfectly good relationship and they needed to go. 

Instead of fighting the words, Luke bled it out on the page. It was all rough, so simple, nothing too flowery or Shakespearean. It wasn’t going to win a Grammy, this song just needed to say what it needed to say- 

_“I think I’m in love… with the girl next door…”_

God, his hand cramped and ached as he slammed his fist against the table while he wrote furiously, but not as much as his heart (ugh, cliches!). 

In minutes he had the first verse and the pre chorus done. 

Nearly tearing the paper with his pen, he dominated the chorus, the second verse, and-

you know what, screw the bridge. Screw the bridge! It was gonna be the pre- chorus again with maybe a key change- who knew? It wasn’t like he was ever, ever going to play it. 

_“I think I’m in love…. I think I’m in love… I think I’m in love with the girl who lives…”_

Screaming at the stroke of genius (or complete and utter madness) he went through the chorus again, making tweaks before finally scrawling at the top of the page in large jagged letters: 

_TWO DOORS DOWN_

Breathing heavily, sweat dripping off his nose, he tossed the pen aside and examined the song. 

Everything was too on the nose. Very repetitive- but who cared. It was finished. It was done. 

And it was toast. 

His hands went for the binding, ready to tear out another song in this emotional purging. To be nothing but itty bitty strands in his dad’s shredder. Or a sopping ball of pulpy matter in the toilet. Maybe, if he was just a tad bit crazy enough, he would take out the lighter- go outside and watch it go up in flames. 

But once his fingers pinched the pages, he couldn’t do it. 

_What?_

Why couldn’t he do it? 

Out of all the songs, all of the poems he had written- this one had to be the shortest and weakest one of the bunch. 

Yet, this one- he couldn’t destroy.

_Why?_

Wiping at his sweaty face, Luke was met with the startling conclusion- 

This really was it. 

If he were to pick up the pen again, the next words on the page would no longer be about Julie. The song, however weak it was lyrically, did the job. 

He was able to physically put his feelings out and he was holding it in his hands. 

If he were to destroy this- then that was it. 

He really was convinced that he could actually move on. 

Slamming the book closed, he jumped into bed, screaming into his pillow- just wanting this to be over. 

But who was he kidding? 

He didn’t want it to be over. 

  
  
  
  
  


Not just yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey...
> 
> So...
> 
> This updated. 
> 
> That's exciting!
> 
> Yeah been busy juggling a lot of projects but this fic has always been in the back of mind. It took a while to restart it but I've been inspired by @pearlcaddy and their Juke stories and I just felt like I needed to produce this chapter right now. 
> 
> Wicked Beauty is mentioned in this- if you guys want to know more about my ideas for that song and how it could be incorporated in S2 then check out my tumblr @bluefirewrites and search 'wicked beauty'. (I wanna write these ideas so bad and it pained me to have Luke destroy it in this chap). 
> 
> I did not do much research into knitting. Sorry. Terminology might be off. 
> 
> Out of all the artists mentioned, 'Stick Hippo' is not real. It's a made up band from the movie 'Prom' (not the netflix one, but the disney one from like 2011 or something). 
> 
> Dunno if the Hacky Shack is a real place. Made it up. 
> 
> Oh and the Mystery Jets song is FINALLY introduced- the freakin' name sake of this fic!
> 
> I think I covered all the bases. 
> 
> Here ya go! Hope you enjoyed.


	19. The Push

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke finally makes the steps to get over Julie. 
> 
> Will it work this time?

Chapter 19 'The Push'

“He’s back, everybody!” 

The band, sans Julie, applauded upon his entrance, but Luke was in no mood to entertain their warm welcome, zombie-walking into the space with guitar pick in his mouth, pen wedged behind his ear, swallowed whole by his roomy grey hoodie. 

He couldn’t sleep the night before, not after Julie had left and somewhat blurring the lines in their relationship that had already been deemed a ‘friendship’. Not after the potent feelings he had upchucked onto his journal, resulting in a song. 

A song that he had kept working on into the ungodly hours of the next day. 

Fingers numb from workshopping with the guitar, eyes bloodshot, and hair in more of a rat’s nest than usual, Luke had still dragged himself to the Molinas’ for his first rehearsal since his concussion. 

Alex, who had greeted him at the door, ceased his clapping at the sight of him. The drummer appeared to be biting down an honest assessment of his appearance. Nick, in fact, had done a double take at the monster that had just walked in, who had bore little resemblance to the Luke Patterson they all knew and loved. 

Reggie jumped in with no fuss, keeping them on track. 

“Ooh hey, Luke. Ready to-?” 

“I’m in love with Julie,” 

Blame his sleep-addled brain. But he, like how Flynn would put it, had no chill this morning. 

Again, unfazed, Reggie shrugged, “Yeah and?’ 

“What do you mean ‘yeah and’?”

“It means ‘pass me that cord’” the bassist pointed to the mess of cables on top of the amp, “Now you mind telling us something new?” 

Alex and Nick couldn’t hold in their laughs at seeing Luke’s gobsmacked face. The guitarist did, eventually, hand over the requested cord, but scowled as he did so. 

Yeah, he may have been really obvious about it, but he hadn’t told a soul about his epiphany yet. And man, his boys were really sucking out the joy of the reveal for him, weren’t they? Ugh. 

“But what am I gonna do about it? She’s already made it clear that we’re great just as friends,” Thank god Julie was out with Carlos at his baseball practice and not here to hear him grip yet again about his feelings. 

Alex clapped him on the shoulder then skipped over to his kit, “I mean, you’ve liked her for a while. It won’t just go away.” 

“It’s been weeks, Alex! Since I realized I love her,” Luke brought out his journal and slammed it down onto the coffee table. He flipped to most recent page, now riddled with chords as well as words, “I tried writing a song to hopefully to get it out of my system, but-” 

“It’s too good to be left unplayed?” He finished, knowing his friend all too well. 

"The lyrics are shit. But the music may just be-

“Lemme see,” 

Reggie bounded over, beckoning Nick, who had been quietly observing. 

Luke noticed that kind of behavior coming from the other guitarist lately. 

The two of them had become friends over the summer, something that neither of them had probably seen coming, and Luke was honestly so proud of the guy to step up and take on guitar for the band while he was away. 

Yet, even though Luke was the one who had inducted him into the group, Nick would act odd around him when band stuff was brought up, as if he didn’t want to upset Luke. He must be concerned that Luke felt replaced. 

Even in his all-nighter daze, he shot the guy an easy going smile, “Thanks for holding up the fort. Appreciate it, man,”

Nick’s face shone a little brighter at that. He nodded before joining Reggie, and now Alex, in reading over ‘Two Doors Down’. 

“Okay… this is oddly specific. She’s definitely gonna know it’s her this time around,” was Nick’s response, which was the general consensus. 

“I know!” Luke cried. 

This was not like 'Perfect Harmony'. Nothing to hide behind. The simplicity of these lyrics would not allow that. 

“Have you come up with a melody for it yet? Cuz I got some… I got some ideas-” Luke watched in horror as Reggie launched into a jaunty bass riff, aligning with the key he had marked down, to test the waters. 

He locked eyes with Nick, and communicating in some nonverbal language, the other boy picked up his electric resting against the chair and played against Reggie’s riff. 

“Come on, Alex! Get in on this,” 

The drummer bopped his head, gauging the tempo. Then he was off too, stomping on the kick drum before Luke could blink, experimenting with the different rhythms until he found one that fit the ‘80s vibe that Luke was most likely gearing towards. 

In no more than 5 minutes, the band had it down, the beginnings of a banger, and Luke couldn’t have been more- 

Annoyed. 

He X-ed his arms, waving them wildly to cut the music, “Okay. That sounds freakin’ amazing- _But no!_ ” 

Luke had always dreamed about the spontaneous band riffing that would birth the perfect song on the spot, the kinds that legends had gone on about in their memoirs, like those scenes in the movies too. But he could not deal with this right now. 

He groaned and collapsed onto the carpet, “I need solutions! Do not enable my obsession!” 

“Only _you_ would call being in love with an obsession,” Alex commented dryly. 

Nick sighed and put his guitar away, “He’s kinda right though. Dude, you don’t look too good.”

“I’ll have you know, that I’m just as pretty as you, Nickypoo,”

“Yeah, are we sure he didn’t hit his head again on the way here?” 

Luke scoffed, “Hilarious, Alex.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?” His head snapped forward and nearly bit one of the drummer’s fingers. He pushed his friend’s away and rolled over, face smushed against the rug. 

“I need help. The ‘Julie’ situation is getting out of hand,” 

It was a miracle for his friends to understand him, mouth practically muffled by the floor. 

And so he filled them in about his attempts to exorcise his feelings away through writing, especially with what had happened when Julie came over the previous night- talking about his, presumably old, crush on her, napping on his bed, Julie refusing to let go of him- 

“Like, we’re supposed to be friends. We are friends. I love being friends!” 

No one was convinced, “Do you?”

“It’s what she wants. It’s what she needs right now…” As much as Luke was in utter hell at the moment, he respected Julie’s wishes above all else. And if she had wanted to keep their relationship the way it was, then he should be fine with it. 

He was fine with it!

“Okay…” Reggie sighed, “You want solutions, right? You don’t want to feel like this for Julie anymore?”

“I’ll do anything at this point…” 

“Okay, so don’t be mad at me for suggesting this, but,” he flipped Luke onto his back, his hands caging his face to demand his full attention- 

“You might wanna start dating again…”

Luke jerked up, making everyone jump. 

“Dating? Like other people?” 

Nick grimaced and helped him to his feet, leading him to the couch, “You say that like you’re actually in a committed relationship- which you’re not.” 

“More like you’re in a committed one-sided relationship,” By then the rest of the boys joined him on the couch, any plans to continue with practice long forgotten. 

“Is it one-sided if she’s willing to punch a guy for you?” Reggie asked aloud, keeping an arm over his shoulder. 

“Nah, boys. She punched him for herself.” 

They all nodded,“Respect.” 

“Ah yes. It was actually the elaborate prank planning and the B&E that was for you,” Alex shivered, recalling that night. He definitely didn’t have as fun of an experience getting the van back while everyone pranked Bobby. 

Luke shrugged, “It’s Julie. She would do that for any one of us.” 

“True. But she wouldn’t have approached it like that,” Nick voiced from his left, leaning against his side. 

“With guns blazing,” added Alex, who had taken up the spot on the floor near his legs, probing his legs at the mention of ‘guns’,“Wait, don’t think you could get away with not talking about dating.”

That earned a groan. He really hoped they were not going back to that. 

“Like, it could work. You should try getting back at there and maybe you’ll end up with someone cool. It will keep your mind off Julie, and you might actually end up with someone who actually likes you back-” 

“Thank you, Reggie,” his tone was flat, but he couldn’t refute his friend’s logic. 

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Nick said, the only voice of reason as Luke now officially deemed, “Dating someone in order to get over...not-dating someone is playing with fire.” 

“I’m with him! I’m not sure I’m ready,” 

“You’ll never be ready. You just gotta be willing,”

But was he willing? 

He had told Reggie that he was up for anything just to get Julie off his mind. But going on a date? With another girl? How come that felt wrong? He and Julie were not together, which was the crux of his issue, but he couldn’t imagine being in some booth, in some restaurant, sitting across from someone who was not Julie. 

Suddenly, Alex snapped his fingers, “You know who would be a good date? Kayla,” 

“‘ _Dirty Candy’_ Kayla?” 

Purple wig wearing, glitter get up wearing, dancer Kayla? Part of Carrie’s gaggle of drones? 

“Yeah, she’s actually pretty sweet, no pun intended. Like nicer than most of Carrie’s other friends,” 

Luke’s neck might as well snapped by how fast he turned to Nick, “Thought you were on my side!” 

The guy held his hands up, meaning no offense, “I’m just saying. If you have to, and be to honest-” he glanced at Alex and Reggie, “you have to. Might as well be her.” 

_Traitor!_ He yelled internally. 

“And she thinks you’re cute. We talked about it at the party,” Alex threw in, as if that would help. 

Well, it certainly would, Luke thought. Nice going into a date knowing that he wasn’t unattractive to them. And yeah, if Luke let himself think about it more, Kayla was pretty. But he had never had a conversation with the girl, only saw her in passing at school, always with Carrie, so no opportunities for friendly chit-chat there too. 

It really was her affiliation with Carrie that gave him pause. 

Wait, was he actually considering this?

“But I don’t know anything else about her!” he tried. 

Reggie’s hand on his shoulder, clapped with such force that was more painful than comforting, “That’s the beauty of the date. You’ll get to know each other there! Trust me, I’ve been on a lot-” 

“-Like a lot-” Alex muttered. 

“-Of dates,” Reggie’s line of sight immediately landed on Nick, and he burst into a full body blush, “But not like.. A lot. You know. I don’t just- I’m not-” 

Nick cleared his throat and laughed, “No need to explain yourself, Reggie,” he smiled, “No judgement here.” 

Reggie let out an exhale of relief. 

“Cool,” 

“Cool...” 

Yeah… 

Luke really didn’t want to be stuck in this ‘Nickanald’ sandwich right about now, not with the… charged looks they were giving each other. 

(That’s it! ‘Nicknald!’ The Pining Gays had a name…)

Alex sensed this and hauled Luke to his feet, to get away from… whatever it was going on between Nick and Reggie. But once he thought the drummer was saving him, the other guy had his phone out. 

“I’m sending you her Snap right now-” 

“I didn’t say yes!” The ping coming from his back pocket indicated he got the notification, with Kayla’s information no doubt. 

“Just in case! Just in case!” 

Luke shook his head, putting an end to this conversation. His sights were set on his pride and joy, his blue electric, that had been sitting on its stand untouched for weeks, 

“Now, can we please get to playing? I wanna hear what you guys got.” 

“Can you even play?”

“Doubting my skills, Alexander?” Luke already had his skull and roses strap over his shoulder, gripping on his instrument which cold to the touch. 

“It’s just you look kinda...dead” 

“I totally can-” And to prove it, Luke went ahead and pluck out ‘Edge of Great’s notes- 

For only his fingers to spasm, still fatigued from the intense playing the night before, his melody slurred until completely falling apart. 

None of the boys could hide their wincing at the godawful lick. 

“Alright, I think I may need to warm up.” 

“No you need to sleep,” And, with the synchronicity and efficiency of a race car pit crew, his guitar was off his person, a sleeping bag shoved into his arms, and he was being directed to the loft ladder. 

“Up you go,” 

“But-” 

“Take your nap. When Julie gets back we’re starting rehearsals,” Nick practically ordered. 

Luke tried to argue but a yawn left him when he opened his mouth. 

Yeah, they may have a point. 

* * *

Luke had gotten two hours of interrupted slumber before Julie got home for rehearsal, with Flynn alongside her. 

Seeing her again so soon after her visit to his place was as jarring as he thought it would be. But luckily gaining some rest wisened him up slightly, so he wouldn’t be making things awkward. Hopefully. 

Nothing terrible happened, and rehearsal was fairly routine, even though Luke spent most of it getting caught up to speed with the covers they were practicing as well as the proposed setlist for their upcoming gig next week, the first one set to debut the new _Sunset Curve_ lineup. 

Everyone had been all around happy to have Nick on board still, not having to kick him out now that Luke was back in. And as much as Luke totally despised Bobby, he often missed that fuller sound they had back when he was still in the group. 

Now they could have that with Nick, and it could only lead to more opportunities to experiment. 

But when they broke to have a band meeting at the couches and chairs, Luke sat in his usual chair. Julie joined him, perched on the armrests, leaning her body against his left side. 

Luke did his best to pay attention to what Flynn was saying, something about the opportunity to ‘rebrand’ and produce more promotional social media content or whatever- 

But it was Julie cozying up to him, even going as far as draping her arm around the back of the chair ( to keep herself from falling? He didn’t know. He didn’t care), skimming his shoulders and the back of his neck, that distracted him. 

Her fingers were absentmindedly flicking the hem of short sleeves, (he had shed his hoodie a while ago) pinching at it, almost like physically teasing him for his choice in attire. 

_‘Covering your shoulders? Keeping with dress code?’_ he could imagine her saying, maybe even thinking, mirth on the tip of her tongue. 

Then her fingers tip-toed downwards, twirling and scraping against the skin of his arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. 

And Luke, to his credit, kept his hands on his lap, resisting the need to coat her wandering hands with his, guiding them back up, towards his neck, to the ends of his hair and have her play with that instead. God, he loved it when Julie played with his hair-

“Luke,” Flynn snapped her fingers at his direction, “are you with us?” 

Julie’s finicky fingers were replaced with a firm grip on his shoulder, as if it was just now that Julie noticed him acting kinda off. 

“Y-Yeah,” he angled his body forward, shaking loose from Julie’s hold in the process, “Continue.” 

This time, when he actively listened to Flynn, Luke was stunned to find out that he really missed out on a lot of important information. Apparently, there was an idea for a music video in the works? Flynn had been on the phone with different labels and considering their offers? 

Had his one-track Julie mind really made him miss out? His focus had been rocked that hard? All because Julie was touching his arm?

The band was going places. Like really going places. This summer had been a turning point for them, and- 

He was off his game. 

Luke couldn’t play as well today because of the night before, lamenting over his doomed feelings for Julie. He had become so unhinged during the writing process and he just had to drag his boys into the mess too today. 

And worst of all, he was sure to only mess things up with Julie even more. 

They haven’t rehearsed much together as a band today, but Luke feared that this in-between stage they were in could throw them off. And Julie, she loved being in the band. She loved being in this group, and being friends with him. 

The whole dynamic was too precious for them to lose. 

He couldn’t help but think back to the morning after the party, the group was tired, on the verge of breaking apart, the whole thing between Nick and Julie, between him and Julie, Flynn jumping to conclusions, the fight, the police, him going to the hospital- 

See what happened when feelings got in the way of a well-oiled machine? And to think they had all been hugging and laughing in the studio the day prior. 

Luke really needed to get his act together. And as much as he loved Julie and loved how she made his life better, but if he could be honest with himself… he had let himself go off the deep end in the name of love. 

And everyone suffered for it. 

Not to be dramatic, but that was what happened. And it would happen again, if he didn’t do something about it. 

Yeah, the song to end all love songs for Julie was written and he did not have the courage to trash it yet. 

But he needed a different approach. 

After concluding their session for the day, Luke went home later that day. And in the safety of his room, Luke took his phone out and pulled up Snapchat. 

He eyed the journal on his desk, where he threw it once he walked in. 

No.

He shook his head. 

He needed to do this. Ignoring how wrong it felt, he sent Kayla a friend request. 

15 minutes later, she accepted it. 

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. 

_hey_ , he typed and sent it before he could chicken out. 

It was one word, but it was more monumental than that. At least for him. 

The small cartoon of a girl with wavy brown hair and a wide smile, meant to resemble Kayla, appeared on the lower corner of his screen. She was typing back. 

_hey_ she responded. With a smiley face sticker. That was… good. Right? 

Luke thought about all the possible things he could say. Once upon a time, he would charm a girl in 10 words or less, often relying on his looks and body language to get his point across. 

But he had been out of the game for so long, all previous technique went out the window. 

Biting the bullet, he just said- 

_-If i said_

_-I know a way to form a truce_

_-between SC and dirty candy_

_-what would u say?_

It didn’t take long to get a reply. 

_-hm…_

_-first it’s dirty candi, not dirty candy_

_-2nd- what u have in mind?_

_-go out with me_

_-lol. u serious?_

_-dead serious. lemme take you out. You in?_

This time, it took considerably longer to get a response, even though Bitmoji Kayla had made another appearance. 

Aw shit. He knew what that meant. He had spent enough time around Flynn and Julie to know what that meant. 

He wouldn’t be surprised if Kayla was with Carrie or the other _Dirty Candy_ \- er sorry _Dirty Candi_ girls right now, all coaching her on how to reply. 

They were all probably trying to talk her out of it, or laughing at his lame ass attempt to ask her out. 

If his heart had been in it, he would have come up with something better. 

But it wasn’t. 

He was just about to call it quits, ready to call up Alex and say, without sounding too smug, that his and Reggie’s plan wasn’t going to-

DING

He read the message: 

_love to_

Oh. 

It was official. 

He was going on a date. 

Was he ready? Hell no. 

But… he was willing. He needed to make this step. 

And letting his instincts take over before his mind caught up with him, he rattled off another message:

_-how does tomorrow night sound?_

  
  


* * *

It was an hour before he was set to leave for his date with Kayla. 

They had talked for a bit last night before finalizing the plans. They carried an okay conversation, she was nice, at least from what he could tell from these few messages.

He was to meet her at _Johnny Rockets_ tonight and then head over to play some arcade games if all went well. 

Really he was banking on texting one of the guys while he was in the bathroom, begging them to call him back later and pretend to be his mom, before even reaching the _Round One_ stage. 

Luke didn’t know who would be ringing his doorbell at this time. He had expected it to be Reggie, delivering the keys to the van, or Alex making sure he wouldn’t bail. 

He opened the door, “Flynn?”

The girl had her large tote bag, hat, and unamused expression. She meant business. 

“Reggie told me,” 

_That_ he was dreading, “Yeah but-” 

Before he could explain, Flynn budged him out of the way and strutted to his room, like she owned the place. Luke followed helplessly after her. 

“Were you ever going to tell me? Or _Julie_ for that matter?” she called back at him in the hallway. 

He didn’t mean to keep Julie out of the loop. 

At least that was what he told himself. 

But it was… weird. He knew he should have told her. Because they were first and foremost friends. Friends wouldn’t hide things from their friends. 

Luke hoped to play off some sort of nonchalance in front of Flynn, but that girl knew him too well. 

“I don’t see why I need to tell Julie- hey what are you doing?” 

Swinging his door open with gusto, Flynn had evaded the dumpster pile that was his floor and fished through his drawers. 

Dissatisfied, she slammed the drawers shut and went for the closet, “God, where are the sleeves in this godforsaken place?” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” 

Luke nearly fell over in surprise, “Mom!” 

“Emily!” Flynn smiled sweetly, waving at her with her hands full of shirts on hangers. 

The woman leaned against the open doorway, chuckling. “Flynn. Great to see you,” then she looked between the odd coupling that was her and Luke, “But why are you going through my son’s clothes?” 

“I’m styling him for a date,” Flynn chose a shirt and raised it for Emily to appraise. The woman made a face and Flynn hummed in agreement, tossing the offensive garment away. 

“With Julie?” 

“No,” Luke said, ignoring the pang in his chest, “Someone else.” 

“Oh. I just thought-” 

“Yeah, no. We’re just friends, mom,” 

His mom pursed her lips, again with words ready on the tip of her tongue but chose not to say them. An odd smile graced her face and she was retreating into the hallway, “Alright, I’ll just leave you two it. I made chicken fritters, you’re welcome to have some, Flynn,” 

“Bless. Thank you!” Flynn raced forward with a flannel in one hand and a henley in the other, “Oh, one more?” 

Emily cocked her head from side to side. She pointed at the henley, “Maybe.” 

“Leaning towards that one anyway,” 

“Glad to help,” She turned to Luke, pinching his chin, “Honey, we do need to take you shopping.”

He could feel that migraine coming back, “Mom…”

“Let me know when. I’ll clear my schedule,” 

“Thank you, Flynn,” his mom laughed before leaving. 

“You two, of all people, cannot gang up on me!” 

That was already a formidable combination, the two people in his life who would give him total shit and would be happy to do so. Nuh-uh, he didn’t realize that it was his greatest nightmare. 

“Too bad,” Flynn laid out the deep magenta henley over his bed, along with his best dark jeans, “This is, unfortunately, the best you got,”

“I did not ask for this,” 

“But you got it. Now go on,” she shooed at him, not moving from her spot in his room. 

Luke’s face reddened, knowing what she was asking, “Flynn-” 

“I’m gay as hell, I don’t give two shits about your abs,” 

Having enough sense to not argue with Flynn, Luke slipped his shirt off and changed into one she laid out for him. And he didn’t have to worry about her watching because she had located the cologne and his brush and went to retrieve them for him. 

By the time he had the pants on, she commanded him to sit on his bed, while she, on her knees, was stationed behind him, fixing his hair. Flynn even utilized her phone to act as a mirror, so Luke could see what she was up to. 

“Why are you doing this?” He finally got to ask, flinching once Flynn found a particularly stubborn knot. 

“Because I see what you’re doing. Or trying to do. And I appreciate it,” She left the bed and was now in front of him, sweeping some of his bangs away from his eyeline, “I’m not letting her get her heart broken...” 

“Has she- has she said anything to you?” 

“About what?” 

“About me?” 

Flynn withdrew her comb and threatened him with it, “That’s between _Double Trouble_ , mister,”

“Fair enough,”

“Look, all I can say is that your relationship has been iffy from the start,” 

“Interesting, to say the least,” 

“You guys cross the threshold of friends and something more, to the point where it’s expected. But you see, Julie’s an absolute kind of gal. And she doesn’t know what to make of… everything,” 

Flynn handed him the cologne and he spritzed it all over himself, “She just wants to have a good summer with her friends and play music. She deserves it after all that happened,” 

“Exactly,”

If anyone knew Julie as well as he did, it was Flynn. She understood, and he couldn’t fault her for being so overprotective. He would do the same. And as pushy as she was, Flynn was the right friend to have helped him get ready. 

He needed the push. 

“This is gonna be painful. Kayla may not do it for you, but it’s a start,” she uttered, with a touch of warmth that Luke wouldn’t normally associate with Flynn, “This not only for Julie’s benefit, but yours too.”

“So the downward spiral wasn’t cute?” he joked, but it fell flat. 

Downward spiral was exactly what it was. 

And it had gotten so bad that Flynn had been forced to admit that she somewhat cared about him… 

He was well aware that she cared about him, but he so rarely heard it. This was nice, but he would not want it to happen again. And Flynn would probably prefer it that way too. 

“You care about her so much that you literally beat yourself up for it. And let yourself get beaten up,” Flynn fretted over his hair once more. 

“Not saying Julie’s not good for you or vice versa. But it got pretty intense at the party. You need to detach.” 

“You’re right, Flynn. You’re always right,” 

She smirked, “Except when I slapped you,” 

“Forgiven by the way,” his crooked grin only added to the mushiness that Flynn did not want to partake in. 

She rolled her eyes, moving on to adjusting his collar, “How are you gonna get there? You’re cleared to drive?” she inquired instead. 

“Yeah, Reggie is gonna hang at the Molina’s and says I could use the van,” 

“That rust bucket was more trouble than what it’s worth,” 

“I bet,”

And that reminded Luke- 

“Hey, I never got the full story. How were you guys able to sneak it out of Trevor Wilson’s mansion?”

Flynn’s hands stilled at his forearms, where she had been about to roll up his sleeves, “Oh. That.” 

“Yeah… that,” 

Amidst all the excitement of BandSlam the day after and him recovering, no one had been able to tell him what exactly went down on Flynn and Alex’s end on Operation: Prank Bobby. 

The last he had heard from them that night, they were on the verge of getting caught. But they were able to smuggle the van out and were ready to load their stuff before the festival. 

“We had an opening and we took it,” was the cryptic answer. 

“Ok?”

Flynn rolled up left sleeve, then his right, eyes trained on the task at hand, “We might have had some help.” 

“Help-?” 

“I think I’m gonna get that chicken fritter now,” Abruptly, the girl fled to the kitchen, to avoid further questioning. 

Right. 

Now that was suspicious. 

He couldn’t interrogate her further though. This was Flynn he was talking about. And frankly, he was scared to find out what skeletons she had in her closet. 

But no matter, Flynn had done what she came here to do: make him look presentable. It would be a shame to hide out in his room looking like this. 

Dammit. 

Reggie had been right to call Flynn… 

That bastard. 

* * *

“Oh don’t you look dashing,” Julie teased once he rolled up to the Molinas’ driveway, leaving Flynn in the company of his parents, probably still pigging out on the chicken fritters. 

Reggie whistled at him, taking in his attire and the cleaned up version of his regular hairdo. 

“You have eyebrows!” 

“Who _is_ that, Reg?” 

“I don’t know. It looks like Luke-” 

“But I can’t tell. I don’t see his arms,” 

“Sir, do you mind flexing? We need to see if you’re our friend,” 

Luke twirled for them, but did not flex his arms, “Yeah yeah, make all the jokes you want,” His hand stretched out towards Reggie, “Keys, please.” 

The bassist’s keys over his palm. 

“Keep her safe,” he warned. 

“I will,” 

Hopefully this van won't get stolen twice in one month, Luke mused. 

The keys fell into his grasp and he pocketed them. 

Julie stared at him, “Where are you going dressed like that?” 

And there it was. 

Luke and Reggie shared a look, and Reggie took off running into the house, escaping confrontation. 

“See ya bro!” 

_Thanks, Reggie…_

Luke rocked on the balls of his feet, forcing himself to meet Julie’s eyes, “On a date. Actually.” 

“Oh,” 

The same tone of voice his mom used was back, and Luke didn’t know what to make of it coming from Julie’s mouth. She was surprised, it seemed. But she recovered quickly. 

“Wow, that’s great,” she said, her words not exactly matching her tone. There could have been a little bit more enthusiasm there. 

“It all happened so fast. I would have told you sooner,”

“Well, yeah. You should have,” Her eyes snapped shut, “I mean, I missed out on the whole makeover movie montage. Could have helped you.” 

“Flynn took care of it. Don’t worry,” 

Her face fell, “You- You told Flynn?” 

“No, Reggie did!” he salvaged, but that only seemed to make it worse. 

“So I’m guessing the guys knew too,” she said quietly. 

“Yeah...” 

It took a couple of moments for it to settle in that Julie was indeed the last to know about his date. And as expected, she was hurt. 

Luke kicked himself for not manning up and telling her sooner, and now the same awkward atmosphere radiated between them was not unlike what it had been that night when he spilled his guts and told her how he felt about her. 

Beats of silence passed before Julie broke it. 

“You know… I’d be okay with it, right?” she said, almost like giving him permission. 

Um... what? 

“Why… wouldn’t you be okay with it?” 

“I am okay with it. I said I was,” 

“Ok. Good,” 

“Good,” 

“Just clearing it up,” 

“And it’s cleared. Crystal. Totally transparent. Like us,” she gestured to the space between them, laughing in a tone that sounded… not as melodious as it normally was. 

Luke never thought that anything Julie could sing or say could be out of tune. But she missed the note, stumbled on the key change that he wasn’t aware even happened in their song- er, relationship. 

God, he needed to quit with the music metaphors. 

“I’m gonna run late,” he nodded towards the van, “I should- I should get going now,” 

She smiled, her feet moving backwards in the direction of the studio, “Don’t wanna keep you. Have fun,” 

“Thanks,” he shuffled to the vehicle, “Goodnight.” 

“Night,” 

They waved at each other. Julie continued to wave at him as he pulled out of the driveway. Luke almost didn’t check his mirrors before backing out, his gaze set on the girl in the purple Bobcat sweatshirt watching him leave. 

Once on the street, he saw Julie had forgone her original path to the studio and had ran up to the edge of her driveway, still waving at him. 

With one last smile and wave her way, Luke drove on. 

.

.

.

He checked his mirrors. Of course he did. 

He was only human… 

Luke didn’t know how to feel when he saw she was still there, standing in front of her house. 

The moment he turned onto the next street and Julie completely disappeared from his view- 

He still checked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't hate me. 
> 
> this had to be happen eventually. 
> 
> been getting really stuck. the fandom's kind losing momentum and stuff's been piling up at school. 
> 
> luckily my peeps blushandbooks and ephemeral_joy have been keeping me creatively active. thanks to them i finally got around to writing some stuff. 
> 
> here's to hopefully hearing new on a renewal. kinda banking on something happening on this upcoming fantom friday. fingers crossed, but if not- happy clowning with you.


End file.
